Moon Swings
by Laura Brown
Summary: A sequel to Just a Stare
1. Moon Swings, part I

_Summary: This is a sequel to the story "Just a Stare." The sequel will make no sense, even to a detective, without reading "__Just a Stare__" first, therefore it is highly recommended. This story begins right where the last one left off.  
  
Notes: A big thanks to my slave driver for making me stay up late to write, and rewrite, and rewrite again…  
  
Warning: Parts of this story take place in England. I have never had the opportunity to visit this country myself and I offer my sincerest apologies if anything I have written are incorrect. Please try to enjoy the story regardless.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to the brilliant minds of Paramount and Grub St. This story is merely for the enjoyment of those who read it and nothing more. Enjoy!  
  
  
  
_**Moon Swings**  
Part I  
  
           By Laura Brown  
  
**Niles**  
  
I was married to Daphne, I couldn't believe it. I spent half of our wedding party looking down at my hand to see my wedding band to remind me that this was, in fact, my wedding. My brother caught me doing that at one point.  
  
"For god sakes Niles! It's real!" he exclaimed, I laughed at him.  
  
"I know that Frasier, just making sure my wife's name isn't Maris," we both chuckled a bit. Daphne and I had chosen a wedding band far different from my old one. It was three intertwining bands: gold, white gold, and copper platinum. Daphne joked with me that it was me, her, and Bryce. He was the copper of course.  
  
"I'm so proud of you," my brother told me.  
  
"I'm quite proud myself." I replied.  
  
"Just don't pilfer her all to yourself, the rest of your family enjoys her company too." I nodded in agreement but I knew I wouldn't follow that. Daphne was mine now and I was hers, Dad and Frasier be damned.  
  
My new brother-in-laws were, interesting to say the least. I soon realized that Daphne was right; an open bar was a bit of a ghastly idea. When all eight of them pulled down their pants I hid my head on my bride's shoulder. She just sighed. I caught her a few times explaining to people that Moon was no longer her last name. I beamed to myself after each time I heard those words.   
  
Bryce made his way over to me at one point.  
  
"Wonderful wedding, Niles, you must be very proud."  
  
"Indeed, how are you?" In response Bryce gave me a love torn smile. I chuckled at him.  
  
"Found a little love yourself?" He snapped back to reality.  
  
"You know, you're quicker then your wife is. I never thought that would happen."  
  
"Neither did I." Truth be told, Daphne sometimes had to pry the phone away from my hands to talk to Bryce.  
  
"I just wanted to thank you," Bryce said.  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For stealing Daphne away from me so that I could meet Ashley," ahh, the mystery woman has a name. I then felt Daphne's arms wrap around me.  
  
"Well, your father called a few of his buddies down at the station to find Simon and Peter and Mum just got Michael to put his shoes back on and not start showing the guests his four toed foot." I sighed, I was quite thankful the Moons lived in England.  
  
"What about Billy?" Bryce asked.  
  
"Bloody hell, what's he up to?"  
  
"Flirting shamelessly with the bartender." Daphne and I turned around. Sure enough, Billy was flirting with the bartender. The bartender didn't seem to mind.  
  
"Billy probably thinks it's a closed bar and he's being flirted with," Daphne said.  
  
"Honey, look, he is being flirted with," I said to Daphne. I was afraid my wedding was turning into a circus.  
  
"Did you see Audrey earlier?" Bryce asked.  
  
"What did they do to my flower girl?" Daphne asked, now moving beside me.  
  
"Nothing, it was what she was doing to them. She was shaking her finger at Stephen, exclaiming that that wasn't a good idea and that Mommy was going to yell at him for it." Daphne let out a laugh.  
  
"Typical Moon female," I shot a glance at my wife.  
  
"Then how do you explain your mom?" Both Bryce and Daphne looked at me.  
  
"The crazy streak flows her way, not Dad's," was all that Daphne had to say. Then her ears perked up to the song that had started. "Wanna dance?" she asked me. I gave her a smile.  
  
"Of course," and then to Bryce, "excuse us." Daphne and I subsequently made our way onto the dance floor. Having my love back in my arms I was barely aware of any of the other commotions her family caused. I didn't care. I had her and that was all that mattered.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Seven months ago I was engaged, I'm now married, however to a different man. These last few months have been one big thing directly after another. Why did I rush into marriage after a previous engagement? Why not? Niles Crane was the right man for me, I'm glad we didn't wait.  
  
I'm here now, on our Honeymoon in Bermuda. He's still asleep next to me; we just arrived here yesterday having flown out after our wedding. I watched my new husband sleep as I thought about the previous day's events.  
  
The wedding had been beautiful, just like we had planned it. My brothers even behaved, well, throughout the ceremony, at least. As soon as there was an open bar, which I begged Niles not to do but he would have no word of it, they were gone. The typical wedding occurrence happened with my brothers, if I can call them that, living up to their last name. Whenever someone would comment on that I simply reminded them that my last name no longer coincided with theirs and walked away.  
  
One of the highlights was my little chat with Bryce. He had fallen for this new girlfriend of his, Ashley, and I could tell. I had been worried about him and now I knew I didn't have to be anymore. Of course Bryce was also right that I'd feel a little twinge of envy towards her, but that couldn't damper on my wonderful day. Niles soon joined us and Bryce asked him if he wouldn't mind the two of us dancing for a bit. My love, of course, did not mind and I got to share the dance floor with my old friend. That lasted for about two minutes before my brothers started cutting in. Niles had to pry me back into his arms, three songs later.  
  
I chuckled at the memory and woke my sleeping husband who turned towards me.  
  
"What are you laughing about?" he said sleepily.  
  
"Oh, just thinking about our wedding," I replied while giving him a kiss.  
  
"Our wedding was funny?" he doesn't think well first thing in the morning.  
  
"Mainly my brothers," he began to wake up.  
  
"Oh," he rolled towards me, "yes, they were quite amusing."  
  
"Think they'll have dominated our wedding video?" he began to chuckle.  
  
"No, I specifically asked for minimal Moon showing." I started laughing out loud.  
  
"Did you explain this was my family and not simply rear end revealing?"  
  
"Either way it cut down on their appearance on that tape. I want to see primarily you and I," he then leaned in and gave me one of his killer kisses. I did no more thinking that morning, well, at least about my wedding.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Dad was very excited that Niles and Daphne were returning home from their honeymoon today. Oh, who am I kidding, I was pretty darn excited myself. With both Niles and Daphne gone Dad and I were going a little crazy, apparently we needed more people to interact with.   
  
Their wedding had been beautiful, with the exception of Daphne's brothers' behinds. I never knew a wedding could be so comical and emotional at the same time. At one point I even saw Daphne and Bryce dancing together. I don't know how he did it but he has sincerely gotten over her. I felt like I was seeing two friends and nothing supplementary even when I knew there was something extra there at one point. They both were happy, well; including Niles all three were happy. It was a blessing that Niles and Daphne ended up together, I have never seen my brother so blissful in all my days.   
  
Still in my thoughts I walked into the living room.  
  
"Hey Fras, what time are they due in?" my father asked from his chair.  
  
"Not until tonight Dad, you know, I really don't think we'll see them at all today."  
  
"Oh, they'll stop by," my father appears to be disillusioned.  
  
"That's right Dad, the honeymooners are going to arrive home and come straight over to see family before even unpacking." My father glared at me as my doorbell rang. I glared back and then went to answer it. I was utterly shocked to find Niles and Daphne on the other side.  
  
"Hello!" Daphne exclaimed, wearing a smile that was almost as big as her husbands.  
  
"Hi Frasier, Hey Dad," Niles said as the two entered the apartment.  
  
"I told you," my father growled at me.  
  
"What are you two doing here?" I asked the lovebirds.  
  
"Oh, we managed to land seats on an earlier flight out so we took it," Daphne said.  
  
"How was your honeymoon?" Dad asked, my brother and sister-in-law gave each other goofy grins.  
  
"Wonderful," was all Niles could manage.  
  
"Did you bring me back anything?" Dad, again.  
  
"As a matter of fact, we did," Daphne said as she rummaged through her carry on bag. She emerged with two boxes and handed one to Dad, the other to me. Dad instantly began opening his.  
  
"Aw geez, you two didn't have to." Dad soon emerged with a T-shirt that read 'My kids went to Bermuda and all I got was this lousy T-shirt' He laughed in delight.  
  
"Thanks Daph!" He said while giving her a hug.  
  
"Niles does deserve some credit too," she replied.  
  
"You picked this out?" Dad asked.  
  
"No, but I actually went into the store." Dad laughed again and gave Niles a hug.  
  
"Thanks, son."  
  
"Frasier, are you going to open your gift?" Niles asked me. I did as I was told and emerged with the most exquisite tie.  
  
"Oh Niles, this is wonderful, thank you. Thank you Daphne." I gave both of them a hug.   
  
"That time I accompanied Niles into the store." It amazed me how two people so different could work together so well.   
  
"Oh, how was the rest of the wedding?" Niles asked me, since he and Daphne did leave before most of the guests.  
  
"Well, once Daphne's brother's collapsed from the alcohol it wasn't bad," I said.  
  
"Oh dear," Daphne responded.  
  
"I thought it was boring after that," Dad said.  
  
"Were they able to make it home hung over?" Niles asked, it seemed to me he was worried that there was one or two extra Moons still hanging around.  
  
"Of course, Bryce and I made sure that every single hung over Moon was accounted for and believe me, they were all hung over." I could still distinctly hear all the grumbling and growling that Daphne's family gave me.  
  
"Oh, Bryce must have loved that," Daphne said. I had to think about that.  
  
"You know what, I think he did," I said.  
  
"Well of course, whenever Bryce would sleep over my brothers were constantly waking us up, every hour on the hour, he's just starting to get his revenge."  
  
"Daphne, how did you survive living with them?" Niles asked in amazement.  
  
"I lived here for five years, didn't I?" he nodded his head in agreement as both Dad and I shouted out a "hey". "Oh, I'm just kidding. You learn to live with what you've got." Niles still did not seem convinced.  
  
"Well, we just wanted to stop by and say hello but we should really be going," Niles turned towards the door.  
  
"Yes, we don't want any of your suits to get a wrinkle in them." Daphne responded on her way out.  
  
"I'm just not sure if the way you folded them worked," Niles replied halfway out the door.  
  
"Don't trust your wife do you?" Daphne had then gone to the elevator while Niles turned around with a dumbstruck face and then left. Dad let out a chuckle.  
  
"It's good to have them back."   
  
"Yes Dad, it is."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The day after Niles and Daphne arrived home from their honeymoon I got a call from them.  
  
"Hello?" I asked into the phone.  
  
"Hey Bryce!" exclaimed a very cheery Daphne.  
  
"Hey Daph! How was Bermuda?" She sighed dreamily on the other end.  
  
"Bermuda was wonderful, my vacation was wonderful, my husband is wonderful…" and then she trailed off into Daphne-land. Funny thing is that Niles goes to Daphne-land a lot too. I laughed and that brought Daphne back to reality, she did not call London to daydream about her husband who was probably just in the next room. "So how was your flight home?"  
  
"Amusing, as it always is to fly with your family. Did you know that Billy picked up the bartender?" I heard the phone fall to the floor.  
  
"What?" she said when she had managed to reclaim the phone, her voice then got softer. "Niles! Billy picked up the bartender," I then heard something else fall followed by another 'what' this time with Niles' voice, the next thing I know he's on the phone as well.  
  
"Billy did what?" Niles said, I laughed at him.  
  
"Hey, he's your brother-in-law, not mine." I could hear his shocked face, though it did help that Daphne was chuckling.  
  
"That was low Bryce, real low."  
  
"What else did my family do?" Daphne asked.  
  
"Let's see: Michael and Nigel had a swinging contest with Audrey, which Stephen broke up almost immediately, then Stephen starting doing the same thing with Audrey, which his wife scolded him for. Simon found his way into the parking lot with someone who we thought was crashing the party, then realized that Peter invited her, your dad-"  
  
"Stop right there! I don't want to know anymore," Daphne interrupted me with.   
  
"No problem, I now have stories to last me for years." I then heard Daphne's sobs.  
  
"So tell us more about this Ashley," Niles said, obviously trying to change the mood.  
  
"Well why don't you two come and meet her?" I suggested.  
  
"Bryce, we just arrived home from a vacation," Daphne said.  
  
"So?" I asked. The silence told me that my dear friends were looking at each other.  
  
"When would you like us?" Niles finally asked.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next day I was in Nervosa waiting for Niles to show up, something that we plan on happening most days, when Roz came in.  
  
"Hey Daphne, how are you?" She didn't even order her coffee just sat down right across from me.  
  
"I'm wonderful Roz, thanks for asking."  
  
"So I take it the honeymoon went well," oh dear, she's prying.  
  
"Yes, it did Roz and no, you're not getting anymore details then that."  
  
"At least I tried," she finally flagged down a waiter and gave her order. "It must be nice to be home, huh?"  
  
"I wish it would last," I sighed, Roz looked at me.  
  
"What's going on, you're not moving are you?" I had to chuckle at that.  
  
"No, no, Bryce wants Niles and I to come up for a visit, so if Niles can clear his schedule we're going next month."  
  
"Daph, why aren't you thrilled, that's like getting two honeymoons!" She had a point.  
  
"I know, and I really am excited to go. I guess I just wanted to settle down, everything has been happening so fast over the last year. Roz, a year ago I thought of Niles as 'Dr. Crane', just a friend, and now he's my husband!" I was getting awfully worked up over this; my hands were gripping the side of the table.  
  
"I know Daph, like you said, when love hits you gotta take it." I relaxed a bit.  
  
"I'm sorry Roz, I don't know where that came from."  
  
"It's ok, you have been through a lot in the past, what, eight months?"  
  
"Seven, a year if you count when Bryce first visited," I sighed, it all seemed too fast. Not that I don't love my husband, I do dearly, I wouldn't change the past seven months of my life, not one bit. I just needed some time to relax, have some tranquility in my life for a change.  
  
"Maybe you should push this trip off, I'm sure Bryce would understand," Roz said, placing a hand on my own.  
  
"I do miss the sod," that's when my husband entered the café and Roz moved back in her seat.  
  
"Hello Roz. My love," I smiled as he gave me a quick kiss. "How are you ladies today?"  
  
"I'm good," Roz said as her coffee arrived. "Now I just might be better." Niles turned towards me.  
  
"So how is your schedule looking?" I asked. He sat down and sighed.  
  
"I've got a few issues but I'll see what I can do." He sighed and slumped ever so slightly in his seat. I then realized how much he was looking forward to this trip. I decided that if he could clear his work schedule we'd go, if not we could just stay home and be the happy couple that we are. Roz then looked at her watch and stood up.  
  
"Well, I better go attend to his _Royal Highness_, see ya later." We both said goodbye as she left the Café.  
  
"Daphne, are you ok?" Niles asked me, he sure can see right through me, "you almost seemed relieved when I mentioned we might not be able to go." The problems with a psychiatrist for a husband.  
  
"I'm fine, I just thought it would be nice to relax for a bit. I haven't been able to find normality since Bryce first arrived in America." Niles thought for a moment.  
  
"I can understand that. For you there have been a lot of changes, for me, not so much. I knew I wanted this, I wanted us. I guess I just needed a person like Bryce to see your side." I chuckled, if it wasn't for Bryce Niles and I wouldn't be here right now. "So if you want to postpone our trip I'm sure Bryce will understand." I thought for a moment.  
  
"Why don't we see what happens with your schedule. Either way I get to be with my husband, right?" Niles gave me one of his goofy grins.  
  
"That, my dear, is correct." He then leaned in and gave me another kiss.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Frasier, I'm worried about Daphne." I said to my brother over diner. We were having a boy's night out and I felt bad for leaving Daphne at home.   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Hasn't she seemed a little, oh, off, lately?" Frasier put his fork down to think.  
  
"Now that you mention it she has. A little uptight as well," he was now resuming eating.   
  
"I'm just not sure that this trip is the right thing right now," I was only playing with my food instead of eating. My brother finally noticed.  
  
"Niles, this is really bothering you, isn't it?" Frasier had now stopped eating as well.  
  
"No, Frasier, this is really bothering Daphne. Anything that bothers my wife bothers me as well."  
  
"Have you been able to clear your schedule?"  
  
"Yes, just finished this afternoon." Frasier sighed from across the table.  
  
"Well, you could always cancel on Bryce and stay home for the three weeks." I looked up at him, that just might be what Daphne needs.   
  
"And you and Dad and everyone else wouldn't bother us for a full three weeks."   
  
"Well, we can try, can't we?" The two of us laughed, we knew the fallacy of that plan.  
  
"Frasier, the thing is I know Daphne wants to go and so do I. And Bryce will never let us respite until we've met Ashley in person. I also know this trip will either be what Daphne needs or exactly what she doesn't need." Frasier put his chin in his hand and was silent for a moment.  
  
"Maybe you should just talk to her, Niles. See what she wants. And I know you can see through her, between your deep understanding of who she is and your keen psychological knowledge I'm sure you'll be able to crack this one." Frasier really did need to work with real clients; he was losing his touch in the drive-through world of easy radio answers. But I did know Daphne quite well and I wanted to, no, needed to help her out.   
  
"It's worth a try."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Two weeks after my honeymoon, I was lying on my bed while Niles was on the phone with the travel agent. He was able to clear his schedule after all. That left me, well, in mixed emotions. Perhaps I just don't know how to have clear emotions with everything I've been through. I know it's not that but it would be nice for this to all be nothing.  
  
I glanced around the room. After the wedding Niles and I were going to do a bit of redecorating, to truly make this our home. We hadn't the time to start yet and I guess it's just going to have to wait. I like the Montana as it is but it would be nice to buy some things of my own. Having lived with parents and clients most of my life I had rarely gotten the chance to decorate more than a bedroom myself. I sighed as Niles hung up the phone.  
  
"Well, we're all set." He turned to face me. "Are you ok?"   
  
"I wish I knew." And I truly did, I didn't like these states of turmoil, never have. Nile was immediately by my side holding me.  
  
"Do you want me to cancel?" I looked over at him.  
  
"No, no, you've already gone to all this trouble." He leaned back and thought for a moment.  
  
"I can cancel the tickets and the hotel and we can just stay here for three weeks," he gave my neck a kiss, "in this room," and another kiss, "right here." I laughed and kissed his lips fiercely.   
  
"Don't tempt me, Niles Crane." Again, he's in a thinking position.  
  
"Hang on," he said while standing. He went over to the phone and began to dial. "Hello Maureen," he was calling his travel agent again, bloody hell! "Do you think we could cut the first week out the vacation? – Yes, everything is to remain the same for the second two weeks. – Wonderful! – Thank you, bye." He hung up and smiled broadly at me. "How does a week here sound?"  
  
"Sounds like it'll take you a week to pack." I teased.  
  
"I promise it shall not."  
  
"What about Frasier and Dad?" I asked.  
  
"We won't tell them we've changed our plans." He sat down next to me and took hold of my hand. "Daphne, I realize that everything you've been saying has been true. We jumped into the relationship, heck, we jumped into an engagement never mind relationship," my heart fluttered at those words. "We could use some time together, no work, no redecoration, just us. What do you say?"  
  
"You'll have to explain to Bryce why he lost a week with us," I replied, kissing his hands.  
  
"Bryce will understand. And I hope you'll understand if we stop this conversation now." Before I could respond he had pushed me backwards onto our bed and was kissing me, lovingly, passionately… I wondered how much time we would actually have together for our week of seclusion that didn't involve sex. Oh well, the curse of being newly married.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Martin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Geez, no sooner had my son and daughter-in-law arrived home then they were planning their next getaway, this time to London. Yeah, I know, they're going to be visiting their friend Bryce. Don't get my wrong, I like the guy and I understand he wants to see these two, but they're my kids, I want to see them too. I even contemplated using my exercises as an excuse to get them to stay before my beer knocked me back to my senses. Instead I had just resorted to grumbling from my recliner.  
  
"Morning Dad," Daphne said as she entered the apartment. I gave her a half nod. "You're not still doing this now, are you?" She had her hands on her hips; I was still watching the television. The next thing I know the screen turns black and I turn around to see Daphne, hands on hips, holding the remote.  
  
"What'd you do that for?" I exclaimed.  
  
"Well good morning to you too." She finally put the remote down, still out of my reach, however.   
  
"Come on, Daph," I sighed; I really didn't want to get into this.  
  
"Talk, old man or I get one of your psychiatrist sons to make you," the power she tortures me with. I shifted in my seat; I really didn't want to talk about this.  
  
"I just don't want you to leave so soon, that's all," I'm not looking at her but I know she's probably all sappy and soft eyed.  
  
"I know how you feel." I wasn't expecting that. I looked over at Daphne who was now sitting on the edge of the couch.  
  
"You do?" I asked.   
  
"You think I've been able to settle down with only being in Seattle a month and then gone again?" She looked, well, almost worried.  
  
"Daphne?" I asked.  
  
"I'm fine, just miss normality. Vacations are for people who need a change not for those who need stability." I found myself supporting this trip for the first time.  
  
"But friends are worth that, right?" She brightened up a bit.  
  
"I guess your right. Just don't tell my family that I'm going to be in England, I'm going to try to avoid them at all costs." I chuckled.  
  
"Your secret's safe with me."  
  
"Now how about those exercises…" Oh geez.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
There was certainly one upside to a week of seclusion; the airport became a wonderful and welcome change of scenery. Niles and I managed to have everyone believe that we were still going to London for the full three weeks, minus Bryce and Ashley of course. However that meant that we couldn't leave the apartment for fear of bumping into anyone. And it was nice. About mid-week we started rearranging the apartment and deciding what type of furniture and decorations we were going to buy. This, of course, went against our original plan but it was still time spent together. I was starting to feel a lot better. A week let me know that my husband and I made a wonderful team. Not any two people can spend an entire week together with no interruptions and still love each other afterwards. For us I felt we loved each other more.  
  
As many doubts as I had about my trip to London, the last few faded away as I stepped off the airplane in England, my homeland. I love America dearly but I was born and raised here. I stood still to breath in the air as Niles stepped up behind me and wrapped his arms around me in an embrace.  
  
"So this is the land that born my love." He nuzzled into my neck and gave me a kiss. It felt good to be back. To top it all off I was a new woman. Older, wiser, and with a wonderful husband wrapped about me… holding me… blocking traffic… Blocking traffic, oh dear, we shouldn't be standing still in a busy terminal, should we?  
  
I picked up my bags and moved forward again, glancing behind. As I suspected I got a few nasty responses. Niles followed my gaze and then two-stepped up to me.  
  
"Are they always this vicious in England?" he asked. I chuckled.  
  
"How would you feel if two newlyweds were blocking your path home after a long flight?" He gave me his goofy grin before processing what I was saying. After that his "oh" face appeared. I chuckled again, how I knew this man so well so quickly was beyond me.   
  
Up ahead I saw lots of waving hands. I was looking around for Bryce, he was meeting us here and taking us to the Hotel, Niles had refused to be an imposition. Normally Bryce's hair was easy to find, today it was hard. I looked around a bit more and saw red curls, from underneath a hat. I nodded to Niles, who then saw Bryce, and we both headed in his direction.  
  
"Hello lads, have a good flight?" Bryce asked as we put our luggage down.  
  
"Well, if you ignore the baby that was crying all the way from coach…" Niles was grumbling, as always. I gave Bryce a kiss hello.  
  
"It was wonderful."  
  
"I saw you two hold up the line of people, I see married life is treating you well," Bryce smirked at us. I smirked back. Niles blushed. We were quite an amusing crowd.   
  
Just then I saw a woman walk towards us. She had long blond hair, was slightly shorter than me, and had curves that she showed off proudly. Bryce turned around and smiled at her. Something lurched in my stomach as I recognized her face.  
  
"Honey, this is Niles and Daphne. Lads, this is Ashley." She instantly held out her hand to shake Niles' and mine.  
  
"Hello, hello. Bryce has told me so much about the two of you I just couldn't wait to meet you!" She was trying too hard, that personality was completely fake.   
  
  
**Niles**  
  
Ashley was the sweetest woman I've met in a long time. I could see why Bryce liked her; she has this glowing and friendly countenance.  
  
"Well, we have heard a few things about you too," I replied to Ashley, she blushed and turned her head into Bryce's shoulder.  
  
"Oh no, that can't be good now, can it?" was Ashley's response. Daphne gave a short chortle; she must be tired from the flight.  
  
"Well, I'm sure not all of Bryce's stories were pleasant either," Daphne responded.  
  
"Daph, we do have a colored past," Bryce said.  
  
"Just a bit, right?" Daphne laughed and the rest of us joined, even Ashley, I wonder what she didn't know. Daphne then swatted Bryce's hat.  
  
"What's up with this? Hiding your signature red curls, the way I was always able to find you in a crowd?" Bryce picked his hat up.  
  
"Ashley bought this for me, it suits me, don't ya think?" He then placed the hat on sideways and attempted to put on a debonair stance. I was having a hard time keeping myself from laughing.  
  
"If you think so," Daphne said while picking up her bags. "Are we going to continue blocking traffic?" she smirked.  
  
"No, no, that's quite all right. Hey Ashley, should we see if Daphne still remembers the way?" Ashley gave Bryce a small glare, I was liking her already.  
  
"Why don't we save the mean part of the trip until after the jetlag has worn off?" Bryce held his head low as he picked up a few bags and lead the way. Ashley turned around to smile at us and I smiled back. Daphne, well, I guess she wasn't looking at Ashley.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I don't like her, that's all I'm saying." I was talking to Niles as we unpacked our belongings, Ashley was really bothering me.  
  
"But honey, why on Earth would you not like her?" Niles was organizing his clothes, refolding them, and then placing them into the drawers. I had already finished and was lying on the bed.  
  
"She's trying too hard. People only try too hard to make a good impression if there's something wrong with them." Niles looked up at me.  
  
"Do you have any recollection of how I acted around you for the first two years? Well, five years?"  
  
"Yeah, but that was different."  
  
"How?"  
  
"You had feelings towards me, Ashley is just trying way too hard to be friendly." Niles was now hanging up some clothes, having finished decreasing them all.  
  
"I didn't feel that she was trying too hard, perhaps you just need to spend some more time with her, a few hours hardly counts." Niles then found a seam in one of his pants that he wasn't happy with. He was pulling the fabric in all different directions.  
  
"I suppose you're right." I got up and walked over to him. "Can I help you with that?" I asked saucily, he didn't catch my drift.  
  
"Well I'm not sure how, for some reason the –" I cut him off with a kiss. Thankfully he didn't protest and simply let go of the pants to hold on to me.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ashley~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Are you sure they like me?" I asked Bryce. I really wanted his friends to like me. All he ever talks about is Daphne this and Niles and Daphne that, I knew how much a part of him they were. It was important that I fit into this matrix as well.  
  
"Of course they did sweetie," Bryce said, giving my hand a kiss.  
  
"I'm not so sure about Daphne, she seemed edgy." Truth be told Daphne was really the one I was worried about. She's Bryce's oldest friend, and ex-fiancée. She was certainly someone I wanted to like me.  
  
"Ash, she had just gotten off a plane. Plus she's very protective. Remember what happened with Sara?" Do I remember? Of course I remember! His little sister interrogated me for two days straight before smiling and giving me a hug.  
  
"Yes, I remember."  
  
"Well Daphne's the same way. Just think of her as a second sister." That's just a little too weird.  
  
"So you want me to think of your ex as a second sister?" I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows at him. He squirmed; he's so cute when he squirms. Especially the way that one curl bounces in the center of his forehead.  
  
"Well, you can either catch my drift or just be convinced that the man you love harbors incest tendencies." And he was looking at me with a deadpan face.  
  
"Alright, fine. I do love you, incest and all." I was laughing so hard at my witty remark that I didn't even see the pillow come at me and hit me in the face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I awoke the next morning disorientated, as I had been most mornings. The hotel room reminded me that I was in London. I stretched and saw Niles walk out of the bathroom wearing a towel.  
  
"Good morning sleepy head," he said to me. I was tempted to grab that towel of his but I figured that if he was calling me sleepy head we didn't have the time.  
  
"How late is it?" I asked.  
  
"Seattle time or London time?" I sighed.  
  
"Whichever one Bryce is going by." I finally managed to get out of bed.  
  
"Eleven, we're meeting them downstairs at the café in an hour." I sighed. "Promise me you'll try to like Ashley this time?" I chuckled and wrapped my arms around him.  
  
"I promise, but if she bugs me she bugs me. I'll start taking notes for Bryce." I gave him a kiss and headed towards the bathroom.  
  
"Daphne, I'm sure Bryce didn't take notes on me." I stopped still; he had a point, a darn good one at that. I turned to face him.  
  
"Alright, I'll try." I then got myself into the shower and let the warm water soothe my thoughts. It wasn't going to be easy to give Ashley a fair chance. I don't let just anyone date my friends and she already had gotten off on the wrong foot with me. If only I could remember exactly what it was that bothered me so. I was just going to have to try to be as open as I possibly could.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ashley and I arrived at the café early and settled ourselves down at one of the tables. Ashley immediately placed the napkin on her lap and then proceeded to rearrange her silverware ten times. I finally placed my hand on top of hers to stop her.  
  
"Ash, relax. You've got nothing to worry about." She stopped fidgeting and looked up at me.  
  
"I just want them to like me, that's all."  
  
"Well Niles is a psychiatrist, he might adhere quite nicely to a psychological quirk. Just be careful, he can write out prescriptions," she gave my arm a slap as I chuckled at her. That's when we noticed Niles and Daphne standing behind us.  
  
"We either arrived two seconds too late and five minutes too soon," Niles said. They both sat down.  
  
"Well, we thought the newlyweds would be fashionably late and miss attired, neither of which you two currently are," I smirked at the two.  
  
"We can go back to our room and correct that if you would like," Niles responded, in a pose that told me he was half ready to follow his own suggestion.  
  
"That's quite alright, you two probably had enough this past week," I sneered at them again. It was just so fun to pick on them.  
  
"Oh, that's right, how was your little week together?" Ashley asked. The newlyweds gave each other puppy dog eyes, the week went well.  
  
"It was wonderful," Daphne responded, giving Niles a kiss.   
  
"What did you do?" Ashley asked.  
  
"Uh, honey, I don't think you want to ask that of newlyweds," I replied, rubbing Ashley's back.  
  
"Right, sorry, how foolish of me, I should respect your privacy," she said again.  
  
"Oh, it's not privacy, if asked Daphne and Niles will tell, it's just a little freaky when they do." Niles and Daphne glared at me, Ashley slapped my arm.   
  
"Good for you for slapping him, he needs it," Daphne said, I was starting to feel outnumbered.  
  
"Would you believe that his mother and sister said the same thing?" Ashley asked, leaning forward, all thoughts of rearranging cutlery far from her mind.  
  
"Oh, I would. His mother once told my mother to give Bryce a spanking if he got into trouble with the rest of me brothers." I winced at the memory.  
  
"I'm still thanking her for that," I said dryly. Daphne saw my unease.  
  
"My mother had nine children, she didn't take the time to figure out who was involved. If the occurrence needed more than one child all of us got spanked. Though she stopped spanking Billy at one point, he was enjoying it a little too much." Daphne and I laughed at the memory. Niles and Ashley, however, were a little weirded out.  
  
"Daphne, you never mentioned anything about being spanked by your mother," Niles said with concern.  
  
"Let me clear this up for you, I had two nicknames growing up: Stilts, because I was tall for my age, and Snitch. Luckily my mother was so harsh they didn't have any energy to come after me." Niles rubbed Daphne's back, obviously not realizing how harsh her mother really was.  
  
"Daph's family makes mine look sane," I said more as an explanation to Ashley than anything else.  
  
"My wedding is proof of how crazy the Moon's can be, but I have no knowledge of this supposedly outrageous McGee clan," Niles spoke up.  
  
"Well my family did have seven more siblings," Daphne said.  
  
"Honey, that still gives me no proof," Niles responded. He flailed his hands a bit when he said that which was funny, because he was holding Daphne's hand.  
  
"Don't look at me," Ashley started, "Bryce is still trying to feed me with nice stories so I doubt I know the worst." Daphne and I shared a look.  
  
"It is your family," Daphne replied.  
  
"I'd like not to scare Ashley." I retorted.  
  
"Alright I'll start small. Niles hasn't heard this one either. Tell the Halloween pumpkin funeral story." The two of us started laughing.  
  
"Well, that's nice that it's funny but I think Niles and I would like to know why," Ashley is so cute when she's quick on her feet like that. I calmed down so that I could respond.  
  
"Alright, this happened when we were about seven and my sister was five. Sara, Daphne and I found this gigantic pumpkin to use for Halloween, it took all three of us to carry it home."  
  
"Don't forget we bumped into Stephen on the way," Daphne said.  
  
"He's one of Daphne's older and nicer brothers," Niles said to Ashley, probably proud to contribute something.  
  
"That's right, he carried it home, and Daphne and I carried Sara because she was so worn out from carrying the pumpkin. Anyways, we got it home and then took all afternoon carving this pumpkin ever so carefully. In retrospect it looked awful but we were quite proud nonetheless. So we placed it outside for Halloween, which was still a week away. All week we would go out onto the porch to talk to the pumpkin and play with the pumpkin, it became a real playmate, as odd as that sounds. The night before Halloween some teenagers were pranking around the neighborhood, egging houses and smashing pumpkins, and they smashed Mr. Pickles."  
  
"Mr. Pickles?" Ashley asked.  
  
"That was that pumpkins name," I responded.  
  
"He liked to eat pickles, you'll have to ask Sara for clarification on that one," Daphne added.  
  
"Did she actually feed the pumpkin pickles?" Niles asked with a slightly disgusted look on his face.  
  
"I didn't think so, but the thing did begin to smell something awful," Daphne said, Niles, with such a face on that you'd think he was there, rubbed Daphne's back.  
  
"Anyways, when Sara and I woke up in the morning we went to check on Mr. Pickles and found him completely smashed in. I instantly covered Sara's eyes and the two of us were practically crying. Then at school I told Daphne who had the same response. That night, instead of trick or treating the three of us dressed up in black and buried the pumpkin outside in the backyard."  
  
"Then my brother's came and un-dug the pumpkin just to torture us. Parts of Mr. Pickles were all over Bryce's backyard in a path back to my house. It was a pretty gruesome sight." Daphne was getting a little chocked up so Niles placed his hand on top of hers and squeezed. I couldn't believe that Daphne was still getting all wound up over this.  
  
"Sounds to me like Daphne's family are the true strange ones, the pumpkin story was cute," Ashley responded. Daphne and I looked at each other, then at Niles.  
  
"I can't think of one story Daphne's told me that's as tame as that one was," Niles said. Daphne sat back and sighed.  
  
"Just remember it's your family now," she said. After a brief pause in which we were all looking at Niles he gave her a kiss, a good answer.  
  
"There was that time your father chased us around the house with a hatchet!" Daphne practically shouted. I shuddered.  
  
"Yes, that was one medication mum never let him take again." Daphne and I sat pensively, Niles sat there blinking, hand loosely on top of Daphne's. Ashley's jaw was open a bit as she continued to look at Daphne before she snapped herself back to reality.  
  
"Moving on I want to hear the full story about how Niles and Daphne got together," Ashley spoke up.  
  
"I would have thought Bryce would have told you the full story by now," Daphne responded.  
  
"He kept telling me to wait because there were parts that only you two could tell. Though I do know quite a bit, you can't just tell someone that their long time friend became their fiancée and then left them for another person but all three are still friends without some confusion and explanation warranted." Ashley said.  
  
"Hey, Bryce made me leave him," Daphne said as Niles laughed.  
  
"Oh, I didn't mean it that way!" Ashley said.  
  
"Why don't we just tell her the full story," Niles said. We all agreed and took turns telling Ashley about our torrid past. It was fun to reminisce, though there were certain parts that made one, two, or all three of us a little on edge. It has been only a year since this whole mess started. But it was all done in good faith and with plenty of humor. I even got to hear a few details that I wasn't aware of before.  
  
"That's quite a mess," was Ashley's brilliant response to our crazy story.  
  
"Tell me about it," all three of us said at exactly the same time, which caused for all four us to burst out laughing.  
  
"I guess you really are a close group, I hope you'll have room for one more," Ashley said just as our check finally arrived.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Both Bryce and Ashley had to work late so we only saw them for lunch. I must say that I had a wonderful time. It was nice to not be the only one who didn't know all the little stories that made Daphne and Bryce laugh. Ashley was really a sweet girl. When Bryce was talking she'd look at him with such a face that you knew she truly cared for him. Furthermore Daphne seemed to be enjoying her company. I didn't see her flex or become short with her once during lunch.  
  
After we parted with Bryce and Ashley, Daphne took me on a tour of the city. She was absolutely thrilled to be able to show me landmarks for once. At one point we found a nice little park to sit and talk. We were not there for two minutes before Daphne said something that went against my thoughts of earlier.  
  
"I don't like Ashley. I'm sorry, I tried, but I just don't like her." It took me quite a while to process this. I was completely fooled. She had even waited three hours to bring this back up. Eventually I turned towards her to speak.  
  
"What?" I didn't know what else to say.  
  
"I'm sorry Niles, but she bugs me. She is completely wrong for Bryce, he could do so much better than that spacey little thing." I swallowed and clasped my hands together before speaking.  
  
"What exactly bothered you?" I asked.  
  
"Her laugh, for one. She has this fake little high-pitched chuckle. The way she always has to place herself into a conversation even if she has no idea what's going on. Face it, she's an egotistical person, all wrong for Bryce." Daphne said all of this matter-of-factly and was now looking out into the park. I didn't see any of this and Daphne's responses were starting to worry me. I tried to think of something else to say but the psychiatrist in me insisted that I ask this one question.  
  
"Daphne, why is this bothering you?" I looked at her very carefully. She looked down at her hands for a while, then finally up at me. Her expression told me nothing, it was blank.  
  
"I don't know, could it be that I just don't like her?" I didn't like the way this was going.  
  
"Nothing's ever that simple," I said it, and yet I knew what the consequences would be.  
  
"Only to psychiatrists. Niles, not everything has to be analyzed finitely!" Now she's standing in front of me and I couldn't stop myself.  
  
"This isn't something that it takes a magnifying glass to see, there are practically red flags waving here!" This was hurting. The one and only time Daphne and I had previously fought was right before we had gotten together. I knew she was getting angry and I understood why but I had to let the conversation continue.  
  
"Niles, I would think you of all people…" Her voice trailed off. "I'm going for a walk." And then I watched her walk away.  
  
  
  
After sitting on the bench for about a half hour, simply thinking of the events that had gone before I decided to look at my watch: it was five in the afternoon. That meant it was nine back home. Frasier should be awake. I dialed the number.  
  
"Hello?" asked a groggy Frasier, was he sleeping? I decided to try and sound cheerful.  
  
"Hi Frasier," I said.  
  
"Niles, what's wrong?" Apparently my attempt failed.  
  
"Oh, I didn't wake you, did I?" I asked.  
  
"I had just woken up, it's fine Niles. Why are you calling?" I sighed and glanced around me. I was on vacation with my wife yet I was sitting in a park, alone.  
  
"Well, let's just say that Daphne and I had a little spat and I wanted to make sure that my deductive reasoning was sound."  
  
"Alright, what happened?" I could almost see Frasier sitting in his bed, putting on his thinking cap for this early morning therapy session. I proceeded to tell Frasier about how Daphne doesn't like Ashley, my impression of Ashley, and Daphne and my fight just a little while earlier. When I finished Frasier was silent for a while.  
  
"Well, she could sincerely just not like this woman. I mean Niles, you two don't have to see eye-to-eye on everything."  
  
"But is that what this justly sounds like, Frasier?" I was hoping this was what he truly thought. I could live with making an obtuse mistake.   
  
"No," came his baritone voice. I took a deep breath.  
  
"Alright older brother, out with it, what do you see?"  
  
"Well it would appear that Daphne still has some lingering feelings towards Bryce and while this is not detrimental it is something that she needs to realize." Perhaps drive-through psychology does have it merits.  
  
"Alright, that just confirms what I already suspected. My problem is how do I get her to realize this? Preferably without ruining my marriage." Let's see if he can give me a good solution to his diagnosis.  
  
"You need to confront her. Talk to Daphne about it, calmly and rationally and see if she sees it as well. If not, perhaps Bryce can help, I'm sure he went through something similar at one point." My brother had a good response as well. Not one I was too keen on but one that was better than anything I had roaming around in my head.  
  
"Alright. Thank you Frasier. If you have a slow day at work would you like me to call in?" I teased him.  
  
"Ha ha. Good luck Niles." I could tell he was worried about me.  
  
"Thank you Frasier."  
  
"Oh and feel free to call me, day or night." I chuckled.  
  
"Will do." And then I hung up the phone and continued to sit on the bench, staring out at the scenery. Wondering how I was going to be able to pull this off.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End~of~Part~I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	2. Moon Swings, part II

_Summary: See part I. Also, unless you are a detective, or even if you are, you might want to check out the first section before beginning this one for the sake of my writing making sense.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to the brilliant minds of Paramount and Grub St. This story is merely for the enjoyment of those who read it and nothing more. Enjoy!  
_  
  
  
**Moon Swings**  
Part II  
  
               By Laura Brown  
  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
I was still sitting on the bench an hour later when I heard my name called.  
  
"Niles? Is that you?" I looked over to see Ashley walking towards me.  
  
"Ashley, I thought you were working?" I stood up to greet her.  
  
"Well, I am. I work in that building right over there," she pointed not one block from where I was. "So I sometimes take a walk here on my breaks. Where's Daphne?" I sat back down, what was I going to tell Ashley?  
  
"Honestly, I don't know." She was instantly sitting down next to me.  
  
"Oh no! Did something happen. Did I set her off?" I wasn't quite sure what Ashley meant by that.  
  
"Ashley, I don't think –" she cut me off, obviously reading the confusion all over my face.  
  
"Oh dear, that didn't sound quite right, did it?" I shook my head. "What I meant involves something that I've talked with Bryce about in the past. How he had bad feelings towards you because Daphne fell for you and I was just always afraid that me, being the next girl in Bryce's life, would be a problem for Daphne." I sat there, dumbfounded by what she had just said. I couldn't even think of anything to say. Eventually she continued. "Oh dear, I am causing a problem, aren't I?" Her normally perky voice had calmed down quite a bit. I sighed and decided it would be a good time to say something in response to her.   
  
"It's not you, Ashley. It's Daphne." Ashley turned to me, this time she was confused.  
  
"How is it Daphne?"  
  
"You remember all your reasoning you just listed as to why Daphne might have a problem with you?"  
  
"Yeah, of course. And then some from what Bryce and I talked about." I made a mental note to possibly skip ahead to having Bryce talk with Daphne.  
  
"Well Daphne doesn't see any of this." We both sighed this time.  
  
"I'm so sorry I'm ruining your vacation. I told Bryce we should have waited to invite you two over. I didn't want anyone to have any problems." The poor dear was tormenting herself over this.  
  
"It's not your fault. This probably would have happened at some point, regardless of timing. I just hope this ends well." And I had a fear growing inside that this would not be pretty.  
  
"Me too. Niles, feel free to talk to me if you need someone to talk to. I know that you only know Bryce and me in England, not the best place to be having problems. And if you want me to talk to Daphne I will but somehow I don't think that will be the best thing for right now." I chuckled with her and then stood up.  
  
"No, I don't think that would be. I'm going to go see if I can find her. Thank you for this talk." She stood as well.  
  
"My pleasure." I then turned and headed towards the hotel.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was so angry at Niles that I left the park and just started walking, not paying attention to where I was going. When I finally stopped to consider where I was I became quite thankful that I knew this area and wasn't completely upset and lost. I turned and began to head back towards the hotel.  
  
I could not believe that my own husband was accusing me of… I stopped walking and stood still. I suddenly realized I had no idea what he was accusing me of. I knew he didn't believe me though and that was enough. And I had no idea why he didn't believe me. It just didn't make sense.  
  
He had to have seen what I saw. Ashley was just absolutely awful. That was the real red flag here. I don't know what Bryce sees in her. Maybe as a rebound girl she's great but he doesn't see her as that, he sees her as something more, much more. I also knew that a marriage proposal was already in the works. I couldn't let him do that.   
  
I had to find some way of having a conversation with Bryce alone so that I could tell him that Ashley was all wrong for him. Of course Niles would be watching me. I suddenly was hoping that the hotel room would be empty when I arrived there.  
  
I was in no such luck. When I opened the door I saw Niles sitting on the bed, his jacket behind him, staring at his hands. All my anger faded to see him like that. No matter what had just happened I still loved him. I stepped inside and closed the door loudly so he knew I was there.   
  
"Daphne," he said in his soft tone. He stood up as I took a few more steps into the room.  
  
"Niles, I –" I paused. "I'm not sure what to say. I don't want to get back into what happened earlier but I really don't like being upset with you either."  
  
"I haven't liked any of this, believe me."  
  
"Could we, perhaps, just give it a rest for a few days and see what happens?" I don't know why I suddenly wanted to drop this so badly, but I did. Niles seemed pretty relieved by this as well.  
  
"I think that would be ok," he replied and I sighed in relief as I felt him, once again, in my arms.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
Being alone in a hotel room that you share with your wife of under two months is not what I consider the best of times. I knew that Daphne was unaware of what was causing her negative reactions to Ashley. I started to hope that she would start to like Ashley on her own in the next two weeks. Being at odds with my love was just something I preferred to avoid.  
  
So when Daphne came back and suggested that we drop the conversation I was all too eager to do so. As soon as we were in an embrace passion took over us, an absolute way to avoid further conversations.   
  
However something just didn't feel right. The whole love making process had developed a sour taste to it, in some way. I didn't say anything to Daphne but I soon realized that this wasn't just going to go away on it's own. Later, after we had gone out to dinner and seemingly enjoyed our day, I sat up in bed as Daphne slept. Watching her sleep a fear I had never experienced with her came over me. I realized that for the first time in our relationship I honestly did not know whom she was dreaming of: me, or Bryce.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ashley had told me of her little chat with Niles. I honestly did not think this would be happening with Daphne. I saw how she was with Niles; she was completely in love with him, why would I even matter? My girlfriend, however, reminded me that I had time to deal with my feelings towards Daphne and Niles, Daphne did not. Daphne simply had to realize she loved Niles and leave me, no time to lose what romantic feelings she did have for me.  
  
I was happy to see that Niles and Daphne were together in the lobby the next night. We were taking them out to this fancy restaurant that I was sure Niles would love. My initial happiness did not last very long. I soon realized that my dear friends were, in-fact, having troubles. Niles seemed very edgy and Daphne, well, she was starting to show her distaste for Ashley. Ashley was a good sport, however, and remained cheery through it all. I had already decided that I needed to talk to Daphne tonight, to try to get through to her before something awful happened.  
  
Ashley was doing a good job at keeping the conversation going during diner. I was paying attention to Daphne, trying to find some sign that told me exactly what was going on, proof that she wasn't completely rid of me. Right before our main meal came Ashley struck gold.   
  
"Oh, Daphne, Niles! I just noticed your wedding bands. They are absolutely gorgeous." Ashley was practically lying on the table to get a look at Daphne's hand. Both Niles and I chuckled, one of the few that had occurred thus far. This from a group of people who laugh frequently.  
  
"Thanks," Niles said. "Daphne picked them out herself." Daphne gave Niles a kiss on the cheek. Most of the affection this evening had been coming from her, not him.  
  
"Any particular reason you chose this one?" Ashley asked.  
  
"It's a bit of a joke really. When we were first looking at it I turned to Niles and said that the white gold is him, the gold is me, and the copper platinum is Bryce." Ashley managed to laugh with Daphne at that. Niles and I did not. I noticed Niles stiffen in his seat and it was all I could do to keep my jaw from hitting the table. Daphne had never told me this. And if I represent part of her wedding band…  
  
Luckily the food came and allowed us the shift the conversation. After the meal had finished I nudged Ashley. She then looked up and let out a sigh.  
  
"Oh, I love this song," she said and looked directly at me.  
  
"Oh come-on Ash, I'm really not in the mood," I said, she then turned to Niles.  
  
"Niles, would it be terribly wrong of me to steal you away from your wife for one dance?" Niles looked at Daphne and me, and then back again before returning his gaze to Ashley.  
  
"I don't see why not," he replied. I was afraid he'd say no. Thankfully he must still trust me. The two of them left for the dance floor as I turned to Daphne. I was debating which approach to take when I decided that the Moon way is always the best.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I practically shouted at her. She jumped almost a mile in her seat.  
  
"Bryce, what are you talking about?" She was clueless, her marriage was about to fall apart and she was clueless.  
  
"Well, for starters, why am I part of your wedding band, what should I have to do with your marriage?" She looked at me, still startled by my approach.  
  
"If it wasn't for you Niles and I wouldn't be together. Bryce, it was a joke, that's all." I was almost fuming. I hoped Ashley could keep Niles dancing for a while. I'm sure once he found out what I was doing I'd have my time, but still.  
  
"Daphne, that band represents the bond between you and Niles, I should not be any part of that. I'm part of your past, remember." I didn't know how to make her see this, short from holding her upside down and whacking her.  
  
"Yes, Bryce. But you are also my current friend, are you not?" She was getting upset with me as well, perfect. I decided I either needed to come down a notch or stick it to her good.   
  
"Are you still in love with me?" sticking it to her was what came out of my mouth. Though I wasn't prepared for her response. Silence. Silence is never good with a question like that.  
  
"Bryce, how can you –"  
  
"Answer the question," I growled at her. She glanced downwards and started fiddling with her rings. My fingernails were edging marks into my hands as I watched her.  
  
"As a friend, yes, of course," this time her voice was quiet, she knew where this was going and she was stalling. I looked at the dance floor; Niles and Ashley were still dancing and talking. Ashley caught my eye and nodded, I knew I had time.  
  
"Daphne, I know you love me as a friend, I'm talking about more than a friend." She looked up at me and I could see shock all over her face.  
  
"Yes," she barely whispered. I kicked the table, knocking over one of the waters. We both quickly cleaned that up.  
  
"Bloody hell Daphne! What about Niles?" I said while we both cleaned the mess. I couldn't believe what was going on here.  
  
"Well of course I love Niles, I didn't marry him for no reason!" she snapped back at me. The waiters saw our mess and took care of it for us. "Bryce, if you asked me right here and now to chose between you two, the same way I chose five months ago, my answer would still be Niles." I looked up at her.  
  
"Then why are we having this conversation?" I asked solemnly.  
  
"You brought it up," she replied defiantly.  
  
"Look, Daphne, you have no idea how I spent that month that you were falling in love with Niles." I stopped myself for a brief pause. Ashley was the only other person I had talked to this about. It was actually painful to talk to Daphne about this. I guess I might not be that much better off than she was. "I stayed at home most nights, thinking about you. And then I thought about Niles and I couldn't believe that I was actually giving him a chance to be with you. Niles is nothing like me; he's nothing like any of the guys you've dated in the past. And I was in love with you at that point. I knew that Niles' differences made him perfect for you but I could still convince myself he was too different, he wasn't right for you." Daphne's face was of almost complete shock as she listened to me. "I had to realize why I was upset and how the two of you really worked together. To be quite honest I was not ready when the whole scheme fell through, not until I saw the two of you together. Then I knew that not only were you making the right decision for yourself, but that I was happy with who you picked."   
  
"Why are you telling me this now?" Daphne asked me. She was fighting.  
  
"For god sakes Daphne open your eyes. Use the fact that you have a psychiatrist for a husband, or a brother-in-law for that matter." I then stood up walked over to the dance floor.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
I was reluctant to join Ashley on the dance floor but I knew that Bryce was about the only person that might be able to get through to Daphne right about now. As soon as we started dancing Ashley told me what Bryce was in fact doing. She had been so cheerful throughout the whole meal, finally her face fell and we shared a solemn look.  
  
"I'm sorry you have to go through this," she said.  
  
"I'm sorry you have to witness this," I replied. "How have you been able to stay upbeat through this whole dinner?"  
  
"Well, my family has their flaws as well. My parents divorced when I was fourteen, though they should have done so when I was five. Let's just say that I'm quite skilled at pretending that everything is fabulous when it's not. I'm also good at mediating conversations away from bothersome areas." I was quite thankful for Ashley's presence tonight.   
  
"How are you doing?" she asked me. "You seem worse then when I last saw you." I sighed as I glanced back at Daphne and Bryce but then looked away before I could read any of their expressions, I realized I didn't want to know.  
  
"I am worse off. Daphne and I made up last night but it was only on the facade. Deep down inside this is really bothering me."  
  
"As I would expect it would!" Ashley replied. I continued dancing. I needed the silence. Ashley, with her keen insight, realized as such and we continued dancing in silence until Bryce came over to us. When I realized he was angry I got scared, petrified.   
  
"Niles, she's thick. She's not listening to me. Hopefully some of what I've said will permeate into her thick skull but nothing's working quite yet." I shared a look with Ashley.  
  
"Thank you for your help Bryce," I replied, not sure what to do now.  
  
"What's next?" Ashley asked. Bryce just shook his head.  
  
"We have to wait for Daphne to do something. She can't ignore this forever."  
  
"One can only hope," I responded, the fear inside me was building.  
  
"Is there anything we can do for you?" Ashley asked me. I thought before I responded.  
  
"No, just take us home. I'll probably go down to the lobby and call Frasier and see if he has any advice left." I chuckled slightly but nothing was really funny. The last time I felt this awful I was married to Maris.  
  
  
** Daphne**   
  
I was completely shocked by Bryce's little interrogation. He was digging right into me, out of nowhere. And making me admit that I still loved him, well of course I still loved him. He told me himself that we had crossed lines; there was no way to uncross them. I just didn't understand why he and everyone else was making such a big fuss about all of this.  
  
When Bryce arrived back so did Niles and Ashley, both of whom were solemn. I looked over at Bryce with evil eyes. How dare he talk about our conversation to Niles, trying to poison my marriage now, was he? Needless to say we all had a very quiet ride home. It seemed to me like both Ashley and Bryce were being kind to Niles but rotten to me and I just couldn't stand it.   
  
Niles and I rode to our room in silence. Once we arrived he reached into his other suit pocket, pulled out his phone and then turned towards the door. I sat on the bed in utter shock.  
  
"Niles," I said, trying to salvage something, anything. He turned around to face me.  
  
"Oh, Frasier called me earlier and I promised I'd call him back, I won't be long." Niles then left me alone in our hotel room.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
I was thankful Frasier answered his phone at three in the afternoon, it was eleven at night where I was and it felt every bit as late as it should be.  
  
"Hello?" Frasier said into the phone.  
  
"Hi," I said, I knew that's all I had to say.  
  
"Niles, what's wrong?" Frasier asked.  
  
"Well, let's put it this way, even Bryce can't get through to Daphne. Frasier, my marriage is falling apart." Heck, I was falling apart, right in the lobby, I moved over to a corner to have at least some sense of privacy.  
  
"Alright Niles, don't panic. Just because Daphne hasn't caught on yet, doesn't mean she won't." Ahh, but just the fact that she hasn't caught on is quite the cut, deep and cold.  
  
"And until then what do I do? Pretend to be happy? Frasier I've done that before I'm not putting myself through that hell again."  
  
"You don't have to do that Niles. I'm not asking you to put up with Daphne. But she might need some time to see things clearly. Until then you need to just do what's right for you and not her." That was something I wasn't too good at doing the first time around and I should have. I didn't really want to do this with Daphne but it was the only thing I could do to avoid that hell.  
  
"Alright Frasier, any other advice?"  
  
"Sadly no," came my response, deep, low, and slowly spoken.  
  
"I'll call you soon." I said as I hung up the phone and tried desperately to not start crying. I sat there, staring at the wall. I had a nice picture in front of me, it was of two couples walking in the park together, holding hands. The caption read "Newlyweds." I chuckled at the irony. Maybe I just wasn't good at keeping marriages alive for long. I took a deep breath, recollected myself, and then began to make my way back to my room.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I was alone in my hotel room on a Friday night. Single people are alone at this hour, not newly married ones. I sat there and thought of my conversation with Bryce. That was the first time I had had to think of him in the context of love since we broke up. Sobs overcame me and my stomach turned. I looked over at the open closet. Niles and my clothes were intermingled together, not on separate sides. Right now our clothes were closer than we were. Oh god, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do to handle all this. I was going through so much I needed to talk to someone, badly. I grabbed a credit card and picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello?" I was relieved that Roz was home.  
  
"Roz," I breathed, it felt good to hear a familiar voice.  
  
"Hey Daph, why are you calling me from London. What time is it there, ten, eleven? Oh my god, what's wrong?" In spite of myself I had to laugh at the trail she used to figure that out.  
  
"Oh Roz, everything is just god awful."  
  
"What's wrong?" Roz asked again, clearly stating each syllable.  
  
"Oh, I hate Bryce's girlfriend. She a big mess, all wrong for him and now Niles and Bryce are upset with me and it's just one big confusion!" I started sobbing into the phone. More so because I couldn't say what was truly bothering me and that scared me.  
  
"Wait, wait, slow down Daphne. Why are they upset with you?" I took a few deep breaths, I needed to say this.  
  
"They think I'm still in love with Bryce." I squirmed as I said that and my stomach lurched again.  
  
"Are you?" came her bold response. I needed to shift the conversation.  
  
"Oh Roz, this wouldn't be happening if Ashley wasn't a complete vixen and a horrible person for Bryce."  
  
"Daph, it's not your decision, remember?"   
  
"I'm his friend, Roz, I do have some say."  
  
"Yes, you tell him your worries and then back off. Geez Daphne, it's not your place to say anything, especially as his ex. Do you have any idea how that looks?" And I knew how to answer that.  
  
"It looks like I'm still in love with Bryce." Just then I heard the door slam shut.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
When I arrived back to my room I didn't know what shape I'd find Daphne in but hearing her on the phone, saying that, was not what I had in mind. I slammed the door shut and she jumped a mile. Good. I was angry now, it was a nice change from being hurt. Daphne collected herself and picked up the phone again.  
  
"Roz, I need to let you go, I'll talk to you later," she then hung up the phone and kneeled on the bed facing me. "Oh god Niles, I know how that sounds but this isn't what it looks like!" A knife stabbed at my heart.  
  
"It looks like that as well." I never knew those words could hurt so much coming from my own mouth. The knife stabbed again.  
  
"Niles, Bryce and I have always given the aura of more than just friends, even as children. Trust me, it means nothing." She was now sitting on the bed. Denial.  
  
"You two were fine for the last month he was in Seattle. Daphne do you have any idea what you are doing?" She didn't meet my stare.  
  
"I don't understand why a few lingering feelings for Bryce is causing all this commotion." She admitted it, straight to my face, stabs three and four. I leaned against the counter, I couldn't believe this was happening.  
  
"But you do still have feelings for Bryce, strong feelings?" I asked slowly, each word was a stab.  
  
"Niles of course I do. Just like you still have feelings for Maris." Daphne was now standing beside the bed. She seemed to be calming down. How could she think I have lingering feelings for Maris after what she put me through? Yes, I will always care for her but love doesn't even enter the equation, not anymore. And yet, this moment was much like those moments that caused me to lose faith in her.  
  
"It's not the same Daphne, my memories of Maris are cold and harsh. Much like moments like this!" I had to follow Frasier's advice, I had to do for myself and enter into my last marriage was the last thing I wanted, though it seemed like it was heading in that direction. For the first time in two days Daphne was actually taken aback.  
  
"You're comparing me to Maris?" she exclaimed. I glanced down at my wedding band and saw the gold, white gold, and copper. Daphne, Bryce and me. And then I saw Maris, Schenkman, and me. It was the same story all over again.  
  
"Yes, I am, infidelities and all." I was raging. I knew that this was getting through to Daphne but that didn't make me feel any better. The pain was tearing through me, stabbing now constantly. And I was seeing the patterns all too well.  
  
"How can you even suggest such things about me? I have been nothing but faithful to you." Daphne retorted. And yet in her heart she hasn't been. My heart was bleeding. I looked down at my wedding band again: Bryce, Daphne, and me; Schenkman, Maris, and me. When was it ever just me and the woman I loved?  
  
"Oh yeah, then how do you explain this?" I took off our wedding band and held it up for her to see. "Niles, Daphne, _and _Bryce. That's called not letting go of the past." I then threw the ring onto the bed and stormed out of the hotel.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
As soon as Niles took off our wedding band I couldn't take my eyes off it. Not once in all his problems with Maris had he even touched his ring, with me he had taken it off. It now lay on the bed, away from his body.  
  
I moved over to the bed and sat down in front of the ring. I picked it up and twirled it around in my hand. The three bands shifted positions but always remained attached. If one fell it brought all three down. That's what I had done by not letting myself let go of Bryce.  
  
I realized it now, two minutes too late. Niles was right all along; I don't think I even gave Ashley a fair chance. After all, she was the one that kept everyone slightly happy while I massacred my marriage and friendship at dinner tonight. I placed Niles' wedding band on top of my own; our fingers were a perfect match. I never thought I'd ever see the day when both of our rings were on my hand.  
  
I by no means thought that divorce would ever be an option for me. When I married it was going to be for life. And when Niles and I married I knew that to be true. But if he was no longer wearing our band then things were pretty darn rocky. And he wasn't going to just sit it out like last time, I knew if things continue badly we'd be history far too quickly.  
  
I ended up collapsing down to a laying position and crying. My heart was shattered and I knew that it was my own doing. I had never seen Niles that angry, that hurt. I could see the pain I was causing him and I was powerless to stop it. I did nothing but hurt him more.   
  
I took off his wedding band and then quickly put it back on. For some reason it let me feel like a part of him was still with me. Instead I watched our bands on my hand through my blurry haze. The bands were a bad pick but Niles wasn't. Perhaps I still needed to work through my emotions towards Bryce but I still knew who I wanted, Niles. Without him I didn't even want to think what my life would be like. Oh, this past year has been just one roller coaster after another but I wouldn't change the outcome, my marriage.   
  
Yet apparently that can still be changed. I love Niles, I truly do. I know I do. How did I forget how to show it? How do I deal with all this? How do I save my marriage? Oh dear, I needed to talk to someone.  
  
I contemplated calling Roz back but I didn't know what I could possibly say. Instead I picked up the phone and dialed someone else.  
  
  
**Bryce**  
  
When the phone rang at midnight I was afraid it was the police.  
  
"Hello?" I heard sobs on the other end. "Daphne? What happened?" As angry as I was at her if she was crying then maybe, just maybe she's figured it out.  
  
"Niles – left," was all that she could manage. I looked over at Ashley, who was still with me and mouthed to her what was going on.  
  
"Daphne, what happened?" I asked again, stern this time.  
  
"Oh Bryce, you were right. I've been making a complete fool out of myself. I've been ruining this vacation for all four of us. And now my husband has left." Niles really left? I would never have thought he would do something like that.  
  
"What are you going to do Daph?" I asked, hoping for a sensible answer.  
  
"That's why I need your help. How do you do it? How do you lay those last few feelings to rest so as not to screw up you're whole entire life?" Thank the lord we have made contact!  
  
"You have to let me go, Daph. Completely give up on me, give up hope. Lose the relationship, lose the friendship. Seeing Ashley as a friend would also be beneficial."  
  
"And that works?" she asked so timidly I wished I was there to hold her.  
  
"It did for me. Do what ever works Daphne, just do it fast; you don't have a lot of time, not at this stage in the game. Go lie down and relax and do what you need to do." She muffled a thank you and we hung up our phones. I turned back to Ashley.  
  
"You ended that pretty quickly," she said, her arms folded.  
  
"It's a little difficult to talk to Daphne about all this. And it really needs to come from her, not me. That would just make things worse." I sighed, the memories were still painful.  
  
"So how about this, you talk to me because I know you can and then I'll talk to Daphne. And if she starts to like me we know we're making progress." I grabbed her and pulled her towards me in a big kiss. She returned it and then pulled back.  
  
"Ashley, have I ever told you that I love you?" She smiled at me.  
  
"Yes, but it's quite nice to hear around now. I love you too," she responded as she moved towards me for another kiss before we began our conversation.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next morning I was still awake as the sunlight rolled into the room. I had thought all night, pushed Bryce as far out of my mind as I possibly could and then slowly let him back in, only under the label of friend. I felt like I had gotten somewhere but had no way of knowing for sure.  
  
But that didn't take up even a quarter of my time. I spent most of the night thinking about Niles, I couldn't help myself and I didn't want to. I thought of his smile, that cutesy little two-step he does when he's happy, the looks he gives me just to let me know that he loves me and that he's thinking of me. I thought of all that and more and realized what a horrible wife I had been. I could think of these little things he was constantly doing for me and yet I could barely think of any I was doing in return. At least if he handed me divorce papers I would understand why. He deserved so much more than I had given him and I was determined to try to change that balance. The man I loved deserved no less.  
  
I decided that lying in my bed all day was not going to do me any good. Breakfast, perhaps, would help me figure out how to handle this situation.   
  
Downstairs guests were moving about. Some were here on business, others for fun. I saw a few couples and watched them with a sad face, that should have been Niles and I. Instead I was here in our hotel, still wearing both of our bands. As I sipped my coffee I heard a voice near me.  
  
"Mind if I join you?" I looked up to see Ashley standing there. I was actually glad to see her.  
  
"Company would be appreciated." She sat down and poured herself some coffee.  
  
"I take it Niles isn't here?" she asked. I shook my head. "How bad are things?" In response I held up my left hand, showing her both wedding bands. "Oh my god, Daphne!" she then reached out and placed a hand on my own.  
  
"That's what being dense will do to a person." I replied. A waiter came and took an order for Ashley.  
  
"How are you holding up?" she asked. I hadn't even looked in the mirror or changed my clothes before I left; I doubt she really needed to ask that question. Yet I knew she meant what she said, she was concerned.  
  
"Not good, not good at all. I don't know how Bryce did it," I replied, looking into my coffee. Speaking the truth was feeling good but it was still hard.  
  
"It's a long and complicated process," I looked up at that.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ashley leaned forward.  
  
"You still have feelings for Bryce, Bryce still has feelings for you, that causes potential problems when others are involved. I know that Bryce would drop anything he was doing, even if it was being with me, if you called up with a problem. And we both know that you aren't going to take a liking to me easily because I'm Bryce's girlfriend. It's not about erasing feelings, they will always exist. It's about understanding what you have between Bryce and you, and making sure that it doesn't get in the way of others who are also important to you." Ashley was a smart woman.  
  
"I'm sorry I never gave you a chance."  
  
"I'm not the one to be sorry to. Look, Daphne, I understand. I was the one who helped Bryce move on. Yes, he claims he moved on and was fine before he came back to London but that wasn't true. When we first started hanging out every other word out of his mouth was your name. And for some reason I stayed. I helped him through the process. As he got himself more distanced from you he started to fall for me. That scared me, I was afraid he was just jumping from one shoulder to the next but he wasn't. It takes time and work, Daphne. The question is, is Niles worth it?" I stared at my coffee and for the first time a huge smile formed over my face, the same one that came when Bryce asked me if Niles was the one.  
  
"Yes, he is."  
  
"Then that's all that is important."  
  
"Bloody hell, I've already screwed things up, completely." I banged on the table just as our food arrived; it was opportune timing, to say the least. And both Ashley and I were able to laugh at the moment.  
  
"I doubt that things are as finite as you think. You two love each other for a reason. Just because one of you does something brainless won't damage that forever." Ashley spoke with such sincerity and her face showed such warmth.  
  
"Ashley, I certainly made a mistake in judgment about you." She smiled at me.  
  
"Thank you, Daphne. That means a lot." We ate in silence for a few minutes. "Now, would you like to hear the real story of what Bryce went through?"  
  
"Oh dear god yes!" I exclaimed we both chuckled a bit. Ashley then proceeded to tell me every little problem that he had getting over me. The list was extensive, and included quite a few negative remarks towards Niles, which I had to struggle to let pass and not get upset over, especially because this was all in the past. In the end I knew that I had barely done any of this myself.  
  
"You don't have to go through every little step, Daphne," Ashley was saying when she was all finished. "You just have to make it so that it's clear to you and everyone around who you really love. Having feelings for Bryce is fine, but loving him and pushing everyone else away is not." Those words cut like a knife. "Oh, I didn't mean to hurt you!" Ashley exclaimed. I chuckled.  
  
"Don't feel bad, Ashley, I need this. It's the hole I dug for myself."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The sun had risen over the horizon hours ago. It would have been a beautiful site if my life weren't in a complete mess. I sat on a bench, the same bench where this whole problem first surfaced, feeling completely alone.   
  
I wasn't thinking, I wasn't feeling, I was just sitting here, watching life pass by around me. At one point I noticed Ashley coming towards me.  
  
"I thought I'd find you here," she said while sitting down next to me. I couldn't find any words to speak with. "Want to talk?" She turned towards me; I shook my head no. "Fair enough. I just wanted to let you know that Daphne's not in your room if you wanted to head back." Ashley then got up and headed off to work.   
  
A shower and a change of clothes started to feel like a good idea. I just had to pray that Ashley wasn't lying.  
  
  
  
In the end she was right. I arrived to find the bed made and the towels restocked. For some strange reason I had no desire to sleep so I took a shower instead. It felt wonderful. I envisioned the water washing all my troubles away and while it was only a trick it worked for a brief moment in time.  
  
After I finished showering I wiped some of the steam off the mirror and looked at myself, good and hard. I was tired; the bags underneath my eyes were unmistakable. And I was sad, the slight frown to my mouth refused to turn upwards.  
  
I then noticed my hands in the mirror, both bare. I had almost forgotten that I had taken my wedding band off. I walked into the room and looked around for it but I couldn't find it. Daphne must have just thrown it somewhere. In all fairness I did like the design of the ring, I just wasn't too keen on the Bryce reference.   
  
Once dressed I had no desire to stay in the room alone and I wasn't quite ready to see Daphne, so I headed back to the park. When I arrived there I sat back down akin to as I had spent the night. I'll have to tell Dad that I willingly stayed outside all night.   
  
A few more hours passed, I started to become hungry but I didn't care. I had no desire to move. That was, until I saw a figure walking towards me, Daphne.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
Ashley had been so kind as to tell me where I might find Niles. I had thought about it myself but her added input was quite helpful. Sure enough, I found him sitting on the bench.  
  
I had told Ashley to tell him I'd be out so that he could change if he wanted to and apparently that is what he ended up doing. He saw me as I was approaching and his eyes glued onto me. He didn't flinch. When I got close I stood right in front of him.  
  
"Hi Niles," I said wanting to break down and cry but trying desperately not to.  
  
"Daphne," his voice was deep and cold, oh dear, what have I done?  
  
"I wanted to apologize."  
  
"For what?" he was staring at my waist, not my face.  
  
"For many different things. I want to apologize for not listening to you in the very first place when you saw through my reasoning for not liking Ashley. And I want to apologize for everything that has happened since then, I have certainly made a mess out of our marriage." I couldn't hold it in anymore, I started to cry. "And I'm sorry for crying," I added. He finally looked up at me.  
  
"I'm not just looking for an apology." He said, his jaw firm and tight.   
  
"I know, do you think we could head back to our room and discuss this?" I asked, not wanting to completely lose it in public.  
  
"I like it here," was Niles' response.  
  
"Then we'll stay," I sat down as I spoke. I needed to say something, anything to help this situation. "I had breakfast with Ashley today. She's really not bad, not bad at all. In fact, she's been far nicer than she should have been."  
  
"So you like her now?" he didn't seem convinced.  
  
"Getting there. I never had a solid reason not to like her in the first place."  
  
"Of course." Although it was a warm day there was ice forming between my husband and I. I turned to him and placed an arm on his shoulder, he recoiled from my touch and the tears started to fall down my cheeks at a faster rate.  
  
"Niles, please, you have to listen to me. I have made about a hundred horrible, horrible mistakes and I want to fix them. I love you too much not to fix them." He looked at me, cold and hard. I froze in fear.  
  
"Do you really?" was his response. I put my head in my hands to try to control some of my sobs. When I looked up I saw him walking away.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Things were a lot easier when I was just bending over and taking it. I was waiting for Daphne to show, really show me what she was claiming she had learned. I wasn't going to take an easy answer. And I was so steamed up that even the realization of where we were heading couldn't pull me from my gloom. I left her alone on the bench after I realized I didn't want to talk to her regardless. In fact, I wanted some time without her.   
  
I reached for my phone by couldn't find it. I then remembered that it rang early this morning and I took it out to stop it. I must have left it on the bench. I decided to let it be, I was positive Daphne would notice it anyways.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
After Niles left I failed to be able to do anything productive. I cried silently as life passed by around me and I sat there, powerless to make any difference in my life, whatsoever. I was eventually startled back to my sense by the sound of a phone ringing from the bench. I looked around me and saw Niles' phone. I answered it.  
  
"Hello?" I said timidly into the phone.  
  
"Daphne?" came a shocked Frasier. Well, apparently he knew a thing or two about my marital problems.  
  
"Hi Frasier."  
  
"Umm, Niles isn't with you, is he?" he asked hesitantly.   
  
"No, no he's not. And I'm not sure where he is."  
  
"Well you need to find him, now!" came Frasier's voice. I suddenly became scared.  
  
"Is something wrong?" I asked, hoping that Niles wasn't hurt.  
  
"Only that he bought a plane ticket to come home, tonight." A plane ticket? To Seattle? Away from me. I was so shocked I dropped the phone. I then quickly collected myself and stood up, already starting to walk back to my hotel.   
  
"Oh my god, Frasier, what am I going to do?" I begged my brother-in-law.  
  
"Daphne you've got to talk to him."  
  
"I've tried, he isn't listening," My pace was fast, my palms were sweating and I was convinced my marriage was ending.  
  
"Listen to me, he's angry but he still loves you. He just doesn't feel like he's loved by you." I stopped in my tracks. How had I missed that simple reasoning. Marriages can be fixed if both sides love each other. Convincing Niles about Bryce and Ashley was not what should be first on my list. I realized what I had to do.  
  
"Frasier, I think I know what to do. Thanks." And then I hung up and turned the corner.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was taking my time packing, I didn't have to leave for quite a few hours. Bryce and Ashley were going to pick me up and take me to the airport so I'd at least be able to say goodbye to them. It was three hours after I left Daphne when she opened the door. I had been sitting on the bed, taking a break. Upon seeing her I began to move about in fast motion. She just stood there, looking at me.  
  
"Niles, please don't do this," she whispered.  
  
"Give me one good reason why not?" I asked.  
  
"Because I love you, because I want to work this out with you, because I don't want our wonderful marriage to end so quickly," she's still standing by the door.  
  
"If it only lasted two months it's hardly a good marriage," was my response.  
  
"A month and a half," she replied, taking a few steps towards me. "Niles, I know that you're angry and we both know that you have every right to be. I have single handedly ruined our marriage and a few friendships. But I still love you. And I always will love you." I was still packing up my belongings, not looking at her. "Bryce, with a little work, I can get over. You, however, will always be the one to own my heart and my soul. For god sakes, we didn't move this fast because we were foolish, we moved because we were in so much love." She moved to sit on the bed, I was slowly running out of things to pack.  
  
"Maybe we did move too fast," she continued. "At least as far as everything else is concerned. For the past year I have had no stability in my life, just one life changing event right after the other," I think she was talking to herself now. "I didn't even know which end was up half the time. The only thing I knew was that I had found my one true love and he was worth all this mess. Perhaps I was wrong and the mess was powerful enough to consume us both." She stopped talking and I could hear her sobs. For the first time since last night I actually had to fight the desire to comfort her. I continued moving, well, tried to at least, she stepped in front of me to stop me.  
  
"Daphne," it was the first thing I had said to her in a good fifteen minutes and I didn't even recognize my own voice.  
  
"Niles," her voice cracked, I clenched my fists more to keep myself from comforting her. "Since it looks like there's nothing I can say that will change you're mind, I want you to have this," She handed me a small box, a jewelry box. I took if from her and she moved away to sit on the chair in the corner of the room. I opened the box to see two wedding bands inside, but not ours. These were a simple design in white gold. The only difference was it had a single line across the center in gold. Only two colors.   
  
"What's this?" I asked. She looked up at me and for the first time since she got here I looked into her eyes. I saw fear. More than that I saw love, something that had been fatally missing. The ice around my heart began to thaw.  
  
"Well, as I started to realize everything I came to understand that if our marriage was to have any chance we needed new bands, these old ones" she pointed to her finger, I hadn't realized she was wearing both, "represented the wrong things and plenty of bad vibes. So I went shopping and I found those. If you don't leave tonight and you don't like them we can always go back and pick out another pair." I sat down on the bed, now looking at the rings.  
  
"I do like these." And I did. It was funny, I could make a ton of references to being bought off but I knew that wasn't what was going on here.  
  
"Good, I at least did one thing right this whole vacation." Daphne was kneeling on the floor, though she was still quite a distance from me. "You know, I've probably just been under way too much stress lately, I mean, even my period's been late. I know I should have paid attention to that sooner but –" I cut her off and glanced at her.  
  
"You're what?" I asked.  
  
"Oh, I know it's not _that,_" she slightly chuckled. "Sometimes when I'm under a lot of stress it comes a few weeks late." Something in me couldn't let this drop.  
  
"How late are you?" I asked. She sat there and thought for a moment. Then she chuckled, again.  
  
"I must be under a lot of stress, it's been over a month."   
  
"I highly doubt that it's just stress." She looked at me with her eyes wide.  
  
"Niles, I don't think –"  
  
"We should probably figure this out." I said while rising, she was still on the floor.  
  
"No." I turned around and faced her.  
  
"What?" I asked.  
  
"Niles, we're in the middle of what could possibly be the end of our marriage I'm not throwing any other factors into this mess, it's bad enough as it is. Furthermore I know you, if your suspicions are true it would change your reactions. I won't have that. We're solving this here and now, one way or another." And I knew she was right, to add a possible child to our problems would just make things worse. Yet I was modestly excited at the idea.  
  
I turned to look at Daphne; she was staring at the floor, tears falling silently and landing on her hand, one after the other, creating a heartbreaking waterfall. I suddenly realized that I wasn't going anywhere. I didn't want to.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I may have sounded firm but on the inside I was completely falling apart. On top of everything I was now worried that I might be pregnant. I just don't think I was cut out to have anything go normal and stable for one instance of my life, perhaps that was all just in the past.  
  
Niles had now grown quiet. He was standing by the door, I was still on the floor. I didn't know what else to say I just knew that I wanted this to be finished with.  
  
"Look, Niles. I'm all out of ideas. If you want to work on this I want to do that too. I want to see if we can still salvage our love for each other. If you want to still leave I'll understand," however I could barely get that last part out through all my tears. "I love you, nothing's going to change that, nothing."   
  
"What about Bryce?" he responded, his voice soft.  
  
"Bryce is a friend. Yes, there are some lingering feelings for him, of which I was just pushing out of the way instead of dealing with. However I need some help with that. Regardless you are the one that I love. Furthermore I told you that I talked to Ashley today. Not only did I start to like her but also I noticed how she looked when she talked about Bryce. She loves him, he found a good catch." I had somehow managed to get Niles over to me. He lifted my chin up so that my eyes met his.  
  
"You mean that?" he asked, his eyes were searching mine, staring into them.  
  
"Yes. When she was talking about him all I could think of was how many times I'd seen the same expression on your face in reference to me and to us." For the first time in three days I actually saw my husband smile. He took my hands and got me to stand up.  
  
"Why don't we sit somewhere comfortable to finish an uncomfortable conversation," and then we both actually laughed. I did notice that he held my hand as he led me to the bed and that he didn't let go once we sat down. My heart leaped.  
  
"What do we do now?" I asked. I didn't know what to do anymore but Niles seemed like he did, so I hoped he would lead us to greener pastures.   
  
"Well, for starters I agree with your sentiments about our old bands, so?" he looked up at me with an arched eyebrow as his hand was resting on our two bands, still on my finger. Fear swept over me but I nodded my head in affirmation as he slid our bands off my hand. The removal of our rings left me feeling broken, even with him so close to me. He placed both rings on the night table and then turned back to me. His face was already soft but it softened further upon seeing my face, he must have noticed that I was scared. Without giving himself a second to think he wrapped me in his arms. I clung to him tightly and started crying, I couldn't help myself.  
  
"Sssh, ssshhh, it's ok," I heard him say as he stroked my head. The fear I had wasn't leaving me. I pulled back and looked at him as he wiped a few tears away from my eyes.  
  
"But are we?" I asked, my voice shaking. He took hold of my hands again and then looked at me, into me. I held my breath.  
  
"I think so," I let the breath out; it sounded more like a chuckle. The growing fear I had had began to fade. I looked up at him and saw him smiling. His face moved slowly towards mine and I copied his actions, a smile forming over my face as well. And then our lips met for a kiss. It felt like it had been years since our last one. He pulled me close as our kiss deepened. My heart was soaring and tears were falling down my face from happiness, and relief. When we parted I pulled him into a hug. I soon felt him reaching for something behind me. I pulled back.  
  
"What?" I asked and then I saw that he had reached for the new bands that I had bought.  
  
"There was a reason I took our old bands off to begin with," he smiled at me, I returned it. "Now, would you like to wear both of these as well?" I dug my head into his shoulder.  
  
"No, that's perfectly alright," I sighed. He wrapped his arms around me.  
  
"Which one's which?" he asked. The problem with identically sized rings, however I had already thought of that.  
  
"Yours is the one with the engraftment," I said. He looked at me in shock.  
  
"You had them engraved?" I laughed.  
  
"Only yours. They only had one band in the right size and I had some time while they were sizing mine so I decided to engrave yours."  
  
"Then these really couldn't be returned, could they?" Niles asked.  
  
"Well, mine could have," I replied. He finally looked down at what I had written.  
  
"'To Niles, my one to true love.'" A few tears formed in his eyes. "Oh Daphne!" he said while giving me a kiss and a hug. My heart was jumping with joy.  
  
"So we're keeping these?" I asked. He smiled at me.  
  
"Yes but I'm going to have add something to yours." I shook my head.  
  
"No, that is the price I have to pay for screwing things up so royally." He gave me a small glare.  
  
"How about we have a fresh start, no tallies?" I liked that idea. He then picked up the ring that wasn't engraved and began to place in on my finger. My heart was beating wildly. This time it was so much more meaningful than in our wedding.  
  
"So you promise not to harbor any more disastrous feelings towards old flames?" he smirked at me.  
  
"I promise." The ring was now on my finger, he handed the other band to me.  
  
"Do you promise to use your psychiatry to actually help out your wife?" he chuckled at me as I slid his band onto his finger, a perfect fit.  
  
"I do," he smiled. I then gave him a very passionate kiss. A kiss that he returned with the same amount of intensity. After the separation that we had had we needed each other, desperately. Not to mention the fear of never being together, like this, again. All our passion and all our love was now being communicated to each other through that kiss. No more words needed to be spoken; our bodies were speaking them for us. We had just started to really get into the moment when a knock occurred at the door.  
  
"Bloody hell, who's that?" I asked. Niles pulled himself away from me and looked at the clock.  
  
"Bryce and Ashley." He fixed his clothes and moved towards the door. "They were taking me to the airport." Oh, I understood now.  
  
  
**Bryce**  
  
I was terribly upset that Ash and I were here to take Niles back to Seattle. I kept praying that he would call to cancel but no such luck. However he wasn't waiting for us when we got there so we headed up towards the room. I knocked once and was about to knock again when Niles finally opened the door. He seemed oddly disheveled, however, especially for him.  
  
"Ready to go home?" Ashley asked. Niles laughed.  
  
"Actually no, come on in." I tried to figure him out, I could see that he was packed, but he was smiling and laughing. Then I saw Daphne lying on the bed, equally as disheveled.  
  
"Well, they finally got the fashionably late and miss attired part down, unless… This isn't another scheme now is it?" I asked, Niles and Daphne laughed. Niles then moved over to the bed and sat next to his wife, with his arm around her. I hadn't seen them like this in days.  
  
"Bryce, my dear boy, it is not," Daphne replied, giving Niles a kiss. Ashley grabbed my arm.  
  
"Aww, they're together again," she said causing all four of us to laugh.  
  
"Just barely," was Daphne's response. She let out a sigh and Niles rubbed her back. Yes, not only had she realized everything but things are back to good for the newlyweds.  
  
"Did you're little plan help?" Ashley asked Daphne. I looked at the two of them in a confused manner, so did Niles. Daphne turned towards Niles.  
  
"The rings," she replied. He mouthed "oh" in understanding. Daphne then turned to Ashley and held up her hand, I noticed that she was wearing a different wedding band, how the hell… I then looked at Niles, he was wearing a different band as well…  
  
"Yay! It worked!" Ashley said, beaming from ear to ear.  
  
"Would someone explain to me what this is all about?" I asked. The three of them laughed.  
  
"It's an idea I had as to how to help mend my marriage," Daphne said while getting up and heading towards the nightstand. There she picked up her old bands. "As Bryce so kindly pointed out to me last night, these were based on a foundation that was wrong. So I went out and bought new ones," Daphne said, coming over to show us the band.  
  
"White gold and gold?" I asked. Niles appeared behind Daphne and wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"Yup, sorry Bryce, you're out," he chuckled.  
  
"I can deal with that," I replied.   
  
"Someone might want to cancel his plane tickets," Ashley said in a singsong voice.  
  
"That's a good idea. Daphne, where's my phone?" he asked.   
  
"You just assumed I would find it in the park?" She asked, her hands on her hips. He kissed her.  
  
"I knew that Frasier called when he finally reached me in the room." Daphne nodded her head and then headed over to her jacket to pull out the phone. As she handed it to Niles he gave her hand a squeeze first, then took the phone. I was amazed. Niles then walked towards the window to make his phone call.  
  
"So?" I asked Daphne, she smiled broadly at me.  
  
"So?" she responded.  
  
"Oh, this is so great!" Ashley exclaimed and threw her arms around Daphne. I got scared for a second before Daphne hugged Ashley back. I saw Niles watch with a smile from the window.  
  
"Thank you Ashley," Daphne said once they had parted.  
  
"All in a days work," Ashley joked.  
  
"Well, my plane ticket is cancelled," Niles said, placing his phone in his pocket and heading back over to us. Daphne placed her head on his shoulder.   
  
"Thank god," she said. Then Niles' phone rang.  
  
"Hello?" Niles said once answering it. "Hi Frasier – Yes, I do sound happy. – Well, would you like to talk to Daphne? – No, I don't know where she is." Daphne slapped Niles' arm. "I was being dismissive Frasier, she's right here. Hang on." Niles handed the phone to Daphne.  
  
"Hello. – Yes, I wanted to thank you for our little chat. – Nope, you and Dad are just going to have to wait the full three weeks to get us back. – Oh! And tell Roz that everything is ok. – Thanks Fras, bye." Daphne then hung up the phone.  
  
"Anyone hungry?" Ashley asked.  
  
"I haven't eaten all day," Niles replied. Daphne was instantly concerned and rubbing Niles' cheek.  
  
"Then the answer is yes," Daphne responded.  
  
"Why don't we let you two fully fix your attires," I said, both Niles and Daphne remembered their dishevelment for the first time. Niles's face turned red, Daphne just kissed his cheek.  
  
"Yes, that's a good idea. We'll meet you two when, a half hour down in the lobby?" Ashley asked. Daphne turned towards Niles.  
  
"How hungry are you?" He looked at her and I swear he sighed.  
  
"Can we make that fifteen minutes?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ashley~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was so thrilled that Niles and Daphne were back together again. Bryce was always telling me what a cute couple they were and for the first time I could see it. Well, that's not a hundred percent true, they were pretty darn cute that first breakfast but it faded far too quickly.   
  
Anyone watching those two would not believe me if I told them that just a couple hours earlier they had almost lost their relationship. I didn't believe it myself. Bryce knew, however. He told me that once those two made-up we'd know it and we'd wonder if anything had gone wrong at all. So true, so true.  
  
Niles and Daphne had just finished telling us the story about how they had danced the tango together before they were an item. Niles had apparently told Daphne all about his feelings but she thought it was only an act. She apologized ten times tonight for that, each time Niles just laughed and kissed her. It was about this point during diner that I excused myself to go the bathroom, Daphne joined me.  
  
"You and Niles are absolutely adorable," I said to Daphne after we had left the table.  
  
"We weren't earlier," Daphne replied in a sad yet thoughtful voice. This was quite the scare for her.  
  
"Oh hush, you two are together and happy, stop complaining." She just gave me a smile and went into the stall. I was a little surprised that she followed me to the bathroom. I was still afraid that she didn't like me. However, I soon found out she had a reason for coming with me. As I was washing my hands she approached me.  
  
"So how are things between Bryce and you?" For the first time this was coming from a friend and nothing more.  
  
"We are wonderful," I said giddily. Daphne then folded her arms, oh no. I was getting interrogated.  
  
"Ashley, where do you see this going?" Yet she was a lot less harsh that Bryce's family. I guess that's because she already knew me just a bit.  
  
"Honestly I see Bryce and I ending up married. I know that's foolish after such a short time," she glared at me, I laughed. "Alright, that's my standard response. I can use the real one with you." I paused, Daphne unfolded her arms and leaned up against the counter. "Bryce is just everything I've been looking for, when we first met I felt a sudden spark. And things weren't great when we first met, he was still very caught up in everything that had happened in America. For some reason I couldn't leave him well enough alone. The next thing I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. Crazy, huh?" She was looking at me thoughtfully.  
  
"Not crazy, just familiar." She then moved towards the door. "Just be careful, the fast track opens you up for setbacks." I smiled and followed her. I had passed the test.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Dinner was wonderful but I couldn't wait to get my wife back to myself. Bryce and Ashley realized this and we cancelled our plans for the next day. Daphne and I still had a week plus left in London, we just really needed some time to ourselves.  
  
I was a little nervous to arrive back to our room, in all honesty. I knew that my bags were still packed, a brutal reminder of the troubles of earlier. Part of me was afraid the problems would resurface. However, my heart strongly disagreed with that fear. When we arrived at our room Daphne kicked off her shoes and then plopped down on the bed. We smiled at each other as I took off my coat and hung it up. She then placed one foot on top of the suitcase that was still on the bed.  
  
"Think you'll stay a little while after all?" she asked me saucily. I moved towards her, thankful that the problems were truly behind us. I kissed her foot before moving it off the suitcase and began to unpack.  
  
"I have every intension of doing so. Want to help?" She looked at me with a shocked expression.  
  
"Are you serious? You're normally so picky about your clothes," she sat up while talking.  
  
"Well, you did pack my clothes coming home from our honeymoon and I must say, you did a great job." She came over to me gave me a long kiss, one that I didn't want to end.  
  
"Thank you, Niles," she said and then helped me unpack. It felt really good to do something together, as a team. And it meant something to Daphne. I knew it was only a few hours ago that I was packing these clothes that I was now unpacking. I was astounded at how quickly things can change, for the better. We were both quiet while we unpacked; I swear the fight still had a bit of a gloom over the room, even through our positive countenances. Daphne had the last article to be unpacked so after I moved the bags off the bed I just watched her. I adore watching her; the beauty she emits is completely overwhelming, I like that feeling. She caught me.  
  
"What?" she asked, smiling at me.  
  
"Nothing, you are just quite the sight," I replied.  
  
"Oh really?" she asked, heading towards me and giving me a kiss. Our passion had apparently not been tampered, though we had begun to prove that earlier. "Would you like to see more?" I didn't need to be asked twice.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next morning it felt good, tremendously so, to wake up in a bed, with my wife. She was still sleeping safely in my arms. I watched her sleep, her beauty encompassing me, the past three days events seemingly unreal. I glanced down at my wedding band and smiled, this was definitely a change for the better. I then remembered the one thing we forgot to settle the day before, whether or not Daphne was pregnant. I decided that while she was sleeping I'd get us both some breakfast, and a test.  
  
I carefully pulled away from her, not wanting to let go. She stirred but remained sleeping. I got dressed, made myself look presentable, and then headed off to the café and store. Not before glancing behind at my sleeping love.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End~of~Part~II~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Moon Swings, part III

_Summary: See parts I and II. Also, unless you are a detective, or even if you are, you might want to check out the first section before beginning this one for the sake of my writing making sense.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to the brilliant minds of Paramount and Grub St. This story is merely for the enjoyment of those who read it and nothing more. Enjoy!_  
  
  
  
**Moon Swings**  
Part III  
  
By Laura (arualenna@hotmail.com)  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I woke up the next morning and panicked. I looked around and couldn't find Niles. My breathing increased as I started to believe that I had envisioned everything positive about the previous day. I then saw there was a note on the table next to me and breathed a sigh of relief: 'Daphne, gone to get breakfast, love Niles.' I smiled and snuggled back into my sheets, not quite ready to get out of bed.   
  
I was not awake for ten minutes when I heard the door open. I sat up in bed to see Niles enter, a bag and tray in his hands.  
  
"Good morning, my love," he said, placing his items down and giving me a kiss.  
  
"Good morning," I responded, "you scared me, I don't like waking up without you." I pulled him near to me. He kissed me again and smiled.  
  
"Would you rather not have breakfast?" I could not describe the feelings I had coursing through me at that precise moment. All I know is that it felt good to have him back near me, to have our relationship back. Something I was sure that I had ruined. Niles moved away from me, slowly, and moved towards the table where he had placed our breakfast.  
  
"No, no, that's quite alright," I said to him. I grabbed my bathrobe and joined him at the table. "Sleep well?"   
  
"Wonderfully so," he replied. I knew he hadn't slept the night before and the smile on his face told me the rest was much appreciated. "You?"  
  
"Like a baby," I replied. It's always better to get naked and under the covers first with someone you love. However my love suddenly had a strange look on his face.  
  
"Speaking of that," he said. His voice caught a bit, making a few nerves float through my system. "Do you remember our one un-clarified quandary from yesterday?" I stopped mid-bite and looked at him. He can't be saying what I think he is…  
  
"You didn't?" I exclaimed. He looked a little unsure of himself.  
  
"Actually, I did, I thought it would be helpful." I just sat there, I couldn't even move, I was petrified. "Honey, are you alright?" Niles asked me, concern written all over his face.  
  
"I'm fine, it's just, it's just…" my voice just trailed off.   
  
"It's just one more thing added to the list of things that has happened to you in the past year?" Niles filled in for me. I breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Yes, that's exactly what it is. Can't we just wait until I can't get up on me own?" Niles shook his head at me, I was serious.  
  
"Daphne," he said to me while smiling.  
  
"Oh all right, I'll pee on the bloody thing, but you'll have to check the results," I said while rising to the bathroom.  
  
"Daphne, wait!" Niles called out. I turned around and he patted the bed. "Maybe we should talk about this first." I breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to the bed, if only I knew what I wanted with all this.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
I didn't want to rush Daphne into anything, it's been her nerves that has helped cause all our problems. I did, however, desperately want to know whether or not I was going to be a father. All that could wait a few minutes. I had to live up to my promise of helping out my wife.  
  
She sat down next to me, timidly. I was instantly rubbing her back.  
  
"Do you not want this?" I asked, she sighed.  
  
"Honestly, I don't know. I don't exactly have me head on straight, we've been fully shown that." That seemed to me like one more reason why we may, in-fact, be having a baby.  
  
"Alright, let's play hypothetical, what would you do if you found out you were pregnant?" She looked up at me.  
  
"Until that moment, I wouldn't really know now, would I?" An idea popped into my head.  
  
"Alright then, we'll play it out," I pulled her upwards and dragged her into the bathroom. "You've just finished taking the test," I then dragged her back into the room, "Then we sit here and wait for three minutes." I sat the two of us down and paused for about three seconds. "Then the timer dings," I jumped upright, "I run into the bathroom," which I acted out, "and then I tell you that we are pregnant." I said the last part while kneeling in front of her. However my brilliant plan merely succeeded in making my wife laugh so hard she ended up laying on the floor. "I guess that didn't work," I said as I helped her up.  
  
"No, it was – helpful." She may have said that but she's still laughing regardless.  
  
"How so?" She finally stopped laughing and looked at me.  
  
"Well, let me put things this way. In the past year my life has been constantly changing. I want it to return to normal but normal isn't what it used to be. I have to adjust to a new normal. Who's to say that a baby can't be part of that?" I swear I saw a smile creep over her face. The grip she had on my hand also increased. My heart quickened, this could be real.  
  
"Ok, do we need to try out the other extreme?" I asked, already standing, wondering if the negative response was becoming the less desired one. She laughed again.  
  
"No, no, that's quite alright. Shall we give this thing a go?" She stood up and I noticed that she was shaking. This was a big step for us, planned or not. I rose as well and enveloped her into a hug while kissing her forehead.  
  
"I'm ready when you are," she pulled away from me and took the box into the bathroom. I sat on the bed and fiddled with my hands. Deep down inside I knew I wanted this.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
For the first time since Niles suspected I might be pregnant I was actually thinking about the idea, and liking it. Maybe I wanted my life to be crazy and chaotic, perhaps all this mess was my choice all along. I finished the test, laid it out on the counter, and then joined my husband on the bed. He rose and set our travel alarm clock. Then he came over to the bed and took my hand in his.   
  
"This is going to be a long three minutes," I sighed.  
  
"Well, there's food," he said cheerily. We had completely forgotten about breakfast.  
  
"Can't hurt, right?" I said. We then got up and continued our meal. There was a growing tension in the room. That's to be understandable, of course. We were about to find out whether it was really just the two of us, or perhaps our small family was already growing. I thought of what it would be like to have a child, half mine and half Niles. Someone who would be a combination of the two of us, forever binding us together, forever being a result of our love. I also thought of not having one, though I knew my life was forever changed just by the possibility. I could only imagine what was going through Niles' head for we were eating in silence for a long while, both lost in our own thoughts. I wondered what was taking place in his.  
  
"Niles, can I ask you a question?" I finally said to break the silence; my love breathed a sigh of relief. His thoughts must have been just as haunting as mine were.  
  
"Anything my love," he replied.  
  
"Well, we talked about my view of all this, but what about yours?" He put his fork down and looked at me.  
  
"I'm actually looking forward to the possibility," he said. The slight smile on his face told me he was serious.  
  
"Really?" He chuckled.  
  
"Yes really, it's anomalous, it's taken me by surprise, but yes I do." I looked at him, a little shocked. I didn't expect him to want a child this much. "Though if we're not I'd like to wait a while before actually trying for one." A little tranquility perhaps, I'll agree to that.  
  
"Agreed." At that moment the timer rang.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
It was at that precise instant that the extent of all this hit me. I was suddenly not as valiant as I thought I was. Without direct connection between my brain and legs I managed to stand up and head towards the bathroom. There were only two possible answers to this question, yes or no. My urge to find out the answer had suddenly been replaced with fear. One way my life was to forever be changed. My walk towards the bathroom was one of the longest I had ever taken, I'm sure it felt even longer for Daphne, who had followed me only to the bed, holding my shoulder until she sat down.   
  
I walked into the bathroom and looked at the stick. After staring at it for a few moments I realized I didn't know what I was looking for, so I reached for the box: one line pregnant, two lines not. Ok, that seemed to be pretty simple. I walked back over to the stick and looked at it. One line. That meant…   
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
I pretty much knew what the answer was when I heard a thud from the bathroom. I raced in to see Niles on the floor, at least it didn't look like his head had hit anything on the way down. I crouched behind him and slowly picked up his head.  
  
"Niles, Niles, are you alright?" He slowly opened his eyes.  
  
"Daphne?" he asked.   
  
"Are you alright?" I helped him to sit up.  
  
"I, I think so," he said and then he looked at me with the strangest expression.   
  
"So there's one more reason for my crazy behavior now, right?" I asked him and smiled despite myself. His face soon matched my expression.  
  
"Yeah, fainting on the floor made it pretty darn obvious, didn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, just a bit," I replied chuckling.  
  
"How are you feeling?" he asked. This man has just fallen onto a hard tile floor and he's worried about me? I wanted to be upset but I couldn't, so instead I turned to him and smiled. He then wrapped me in his arms and gave me a huge kiss. Which turned into a passionate kiss. Which turned into making sure I really was pregnant. Apparently that fall did not harm my love, not one inch.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Niles and I spent the day… well, in our room. We would have thought that after being cooped up together for a week we'd be anxious to head out and go places. That wasn't the case. Of course we were hardly a couple for the three days that our marriage was on the rocks. I never knew it could all happen so quickly. I also never knew that one more change to my life would make me so happy.  
  
Niles turned off the movie we had been watching and turned towards me. He gave me a kiss and propped himself up next to me, which involved taking his hand off my stomach for the first time since we started watching the movie. He was going to be a wonderful father. Which is good, because I was probably going to continue to be a basket case.  
  
"So how far along do you think you really are?" he asked me. I turned sideways to face him.  
  
"Well, according to the math this child was either conceived before our wedding, or after." And that was the truth. Niles laughed at me.  
  
"Well, at least it won't be obvious that our baby was already in the works when we got married."  
  
"Oh, that happens a lot in my family. The baby's born seven months after the wedding, ten pounds, feisty thing, and mom and dad claim it's a preemie," we both laughed and knew that I was dead serious.  
  
"Well us Cranes aren't like that," he said, I looked up at him confused. "Mom was pregnant with Frasier when they got married," my hand was up over my mouth in shock.  
  
"Really?" Niles laughed.  
  
"Yes. Apparently she waddled down the aisle too. Frasier was born two months later." The two of us laughed heartedly over that. At least that meant that my father-in-law would have no problems with this situation.  
  
"I never knew that," I said once I caught my breath.  
  
"I don't think Frasier does yet, either," oh dear!  
  
"So when do _you _think we created this child?" I asked, bringing the subject back around. He looked at me pensively.  
  
"I don't know. The wedding night would be interesting. I always thought that never happened and yet, it could have," he was so cute I had to kiss him.  
  
"Well, we'll just have to find out when we get back to Seattle," I said before he kissed me again, and again, and again…  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I've started to play Daphne's games in my head. So let's see, where was I a year ago… Oh yes, still married to Maris. And now I'm married to Daphne and becoming a father. Wait, that didn't sound quite right. And now I've divorced Maris, married Daphne, and becoming a father. No, that's still a tad ambiguous. So let's see, now I've divorced Maris, married Daphne, and am having a baby with Daphne. Yes, that sounds healthier.   
  
It was now more than halfway through our trip and everyone was quite pleased that Daphne and I were having no other problems, especially my love and I. Bryce and Ashley were taking us today to breakfast and then out to dinner tonight. We hadn't had a formal dinner with those two for a while, not one that would call for wine, at least. So Daphne and I were basically convinced we were going to have to tell them about the baby tonight. Coffee had already been avoided effortlessly; Daphne just claimed that I gave her enough energy that she didn't need it. No one complained with that one.  
  
I glanced over at the clock; it was nine in the morning. I should probably get myself into the shower. However I was rather comfortable being snuggled up with Daphne. I nuzzled my head into her shoulder and she stirred.   
  
"Morning," she yawned as she turned towards me.  
  
"Morning my love," I said while giving her a kiss.  
  
"Is it time to start getting ready?" she asked sleepily. I kissed her forehead.  
  
"Yes, it is," I sighed and got out of bed. "You stay there and I'll take the first shower." Before I got to the bathroom her hands were around me.  
  
"I'll join you," that was all she needed to say.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Well, the lovebirds were late for breakfast, again. Ashley was now into the habit of timing them. The latest they've been thus far is a half hour late, for newlyweds they are pretty time conscious. Right now we were up to minute twenty-two when they finally arrived. Thank god we picked a restaurant in their hotel.  
  
"Twenty-two minutes this time, you aren't even trying to beat your record," Ashley said as they sat down across form us.  
  
"It's more that we're trying not to make a new record," Niles said as they were handed their menus.  
  
"We don't mind," Ashley smiled. She had really taken a liking to these two.   
  
"Just wait," was all Daphne had to say. Niles, even though he was holding his menu, was also holding Daphne's hand. I swear they were acting more like lovers now then they were when they first arrived in England.   
  
Our waiter arrived and told us about the omelet bar they had today. Both Ashley and Niles wanted one so they left, not before Niles insisted on getting Daphne one as well.   
  
"He certainly takes care of you," I said to Daphne, she was still following Niles with her eyes.  
  
"Daph, earth to Daphne," I joked at her; she finally came back to her senses.  
  
"Sorry Bryce, you were saying?"  
  
"I said Niles certainly takes care of you."  
  
"Indeed he does. You seem to take care of Ashley as well." Daphne said, leaning forward.  
  
"I do my best. She's headstrong like you and doesn't allow me to do much," we both laughed.   
  
"So how are things with you and your new lady?" she asked me and I swear a mile wide smile must have appeared over my face. Daphne chuckled at me.  
  
"Come on Daph, you know I'm serious about her."  
  
"How serious?" I glared at her, we had already discussed this months ago.  
  
"You know that, too."  
  
"When?" she asked, prying little devil, isn't she? However instead of being bold like I wanted to be my head turned towards the floor.  
  
"I'm not sure." She shook her head.  
  
"Bryce McGee, I know you better than that," or so she claimed she did, she was missing my signals, however.  
  
"I'm just not so sure about the timing," I managed to say while fiddling with my napkin.  
  
"Why? She's crazy about you," was Daphne's response.  
  
"Yeah, I know, but…" my voice just trailed off, Daphne finally caught on.  
  
"Bryce, are you scared?" I looked up at her slowly, just to let her know she was right. Then an evil smile formed over her face. "Alright Bryce, answer me this, are you happy?" I smiled.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Is she 'the one?'" so that was what the evil smile was for, she was turning my words back around to haunt me. I didn't mind, my words had served her well in the past; perhaps they could do the same for me. So I thought about it and I ended up smiling even broader. The trick does work. "So what are you waiting for?" Daphne asked.  
  
"Well, for you and your husband to leave England, for one," I responded.  
  
"Fair enough, and after that?" she had me caught.  
  
"I'm not so sure."  
  
"Alright then, Bryce, do me a favor. Ask her tonight instead of going to dinner with Niles and I."  
  
"But what about you two?" I asked, she smiled.  
  
"You don't have to worry about the newlyweds. Come on Bryce, I've seen how you two are together, you'd be a fool to let her go." And Daphne was right.   
  
"Think you and Niles can help me with the ring?"  
  
"You haven't even bloody bought a ring? What was this preparation you were talking about?" Daphne's voice was so loud I was afraid Ashley would hear. I glanced around, relieved that I didn't see her.  
  
"That, was all in my head," I said while tapping my head. Daphne swatted my arm and shook her head.  
  
"Bryce McGee, you need help."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
That afternoon Daphne and I met up with Bryce at a jewelry store. It turned out to be the same one where Daphne had bought up our bands previously. I couldn't help but to glance around. I soon found out that my lovely wife had chosen the best pair out of the whole store. Bryce and Daphne had already gone over to the engagement rings when she caught me in the other section. She walked over to me.  
  
"Don't trust your wife?" she sneered. I kissed her.  
  
"I was just verifying what I already knew," I replied, turning to face her.  
  
"Which was?" she asked.  
  
"That you picked out the best pair in this store." She smiled and I gave her a kiss.  
  
"Now come join Bryce and I before they think that the ring is for me." Daphne then grabbed my hand and led me over to Bryce, who was already being waited on.  
  
"Lads, you've got to help me out, I'm awful with this stuff," Bryce said, the poor guy was starting to sweat.   
  
"Come on Bryce, I quite liked the one you gave me," Daphne responded. "What did you do with that, anyways?" she asked. Bryce simply pointed. My wife and I followed his hand and sure enough, we saw Daphne's old ring. Daphne swatted Bryce's arm before joining me in my laughter.  
  
"I've got a hefty store credit, thanks Daph," Bryce then gave Daphne a kiss on the cheek and went back to looking. I had found one that looked nice.  
  
"Hey Bryce, what about this one?" I showed him the one I was looking at. The stone was placed high in it's setting: perky and outgoing, it reminded me of Ashley.  
  
"Hey mate, that's not bad," Bryce then asked to see the ring.   
  
"That is a beautiful one," Daphne said.  
  
"It rightly is," Bryce replied. He then gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I think we have a winner."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
That night, as soon as we arrived home from dinner, Daphne instantly went to see if the phone light was blinking.  
  
"Darn it, no word yet," Daphne said as she plopped down on the bed. I kneeled in front of her and took off her shoes.  
  
"Honey, we don't even know what Bryce's plan was, we can't expect them to be engaged already," I said as my wife sighed.  
  
"Yeah, why wouldn't he tell us?"  
  
"Perhaps so that Ashley could tell us tomorrow morning," I replied. Daphne sighed again. "Hey, would you mind not giving our little one any stress?" I asked wile rubbing her abdomen. Daphne looked at me with her jaw open.  
  
"The baby is fine, just will be born knowing that mom's a nutcase." I got up onto the bed and wrapped her into my arms. The hormones were doing quite a number on her. I can trace their beginnings to right before our wedding. Of course, that could just be the wedding itself. Daphne then started speaking again.  
  
"You are going to want to strangle me by the time this baby is born." I kissed her cheek.  
  
"Nonsense. I just might need to enlist the help of Dad and Frasier."  
  
"It'll probably take all three of you as well." I had no response so I simply kissed her. This was going to be a long pregnancy. Yet, I was still excited.  
  
"Does it make sense that I'm this wacky already?" She asked me, I sighed, it looked like we'd be on the subject for a while longer.  
  
"The unease, the anxiousness, yes. But right now it's just the psychology of it all. You're bringing it on because you know that you are pregnant."  
  
"Seriously?"  
  
"Yes, of course. In a couple of days, once you've adjusted a bit, this should fade."  
  
"But what if –" I cut her off a kiss that knocked her back onto the pillows. She finally caught my drift.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ashley~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Bryce and I were the late ones to breakfast, for a change. Hey, who could blame us?  
  
"Those smiles are promising," Daphne said as we sat down. Niles was looking at his watch.  
  
"So is their timing, eighteen minutes late," he grinned at me. I knew that Bryce had told them what he was doing last night.  
  
"This is going to be a scary competition," Bryce said.  
  
"Do you want to hear the story or not?" I asked, telling both sets of parents was simply not enough for me. I also couldn't stop smiling if I tried. Bryce kissed my cheek.  
  
"Make them beg," he said. Daphne kicked him.  
  
"Bryce!" she exclaimed. "I've been waiting all night and I want to know, Bryce wouldn't tell us his plans." Suddenly she had become the eager one. Oh hell, we were both eager, I'm always eager. I wrapped my arm around Bryce's.  
  
"Well, for starters I didn't know that you two had bailed on us last night. Bryce told me that you were meeting us at the restaurant, which didn't make sense but I trusted him."  
  
"Yeah, that won't last," Daphne said. Niles patted her shoulder as Bryce and I just laughed.  
  
"Once we arrived he told me that it was just going to be the two of us. He had gotten the table lit with candles and already set up with a wonderful wine."  
  
"I had told her that we needed a special night to ourselves," Bryce added.  
  
"So we had a lovely meal. When we were finished Bryce took my hands in his and started this wonderful speech, only half of which I can remember." And I wished that I had each word etched into my memory. I looked at Bryce.  
  
"Ash, I was so nervous I completely lost track of what I planned. I'm just glad it sounded good." I kissed his cheek.  
  
"Well, it was music to my ears. He talked about how seeing you two so happy together had made him think about us. He told me how much he loved me and then asked for my hand in marriage and I said yes," I was getting all chocked up. Daphne stood up and came over to me.  
  
"Congratulations!" she then gave me a huge hug. Niles and Bryce had a good laugh over the two of us. Daphne turned around.  
  
"What's so funny?" she asked.  
  
"Just, comparing, that's all," Bryce responded.  
  
"Ash," Daphne said firmly as she returned to her seat.  
  
"I know, I know, hit him. I think I'll kiss him instead." And that's exactly what I did.  
  
"Good answer," Niles responded. I looked over at Daphne, she was smiling.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ashley and Bryce were adorable together. I really could not have been happier for them. However, with dinner planned for this evening I felt like my pregnancy was going to raid on their parade. I was sitting on the bed, having just finished getting dressed.  
  
"Niles?" I asked, he entered from the bathroom. "Do you think there's anyway to get out of the possible wine incident tonight?" He sat down beside me.  
  
"You don't want them to find out?" he asked, placing a hand on mine.   
  
"Oh, it's not that, I just don't want to take the lime light away from them, that's all." Niles picked up my hand and kissed it.  
  
"Well, we can always see what happens. If they pry into the reason why you aren't drinking any alcohol then that's their fault." He kissed my neck.  
  
"But this is Bryce and Ashley," I exclaimed. He stopped and sat back.  
  
"Still their fault," he then resumed kissing my neck while I laughed.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
At dinner wine became an issue all too quickly. Ashley and Bryce were celebrating so they ordered a wine bottle, one of my favorites at that. Niles gave my hand a squeeze to comfort me. I asked for a soda, best to give my senses something sweet.  
  
"Daphne, aren't you going to have some wine?" Ashley asked once the waiter had left. I shared a look with Niles.  
  
"I'm just not in the mood for alcohol tonight," I prayed they would leave that alone.  
  
"But Daph, I thought you liked this one?" Bryce asked, I was hoping he wouldn't have remembered. I looked at Niles.  
  
"We had a bad experience with it once, a bad batch. But not to worry, I blame the storage unit, not the bottle," Niles said in my rescue.  
  
"Well, we can order something else," Ashley said, they weren't letting this drop like I wanted them to.  
  
"No, don't be silly. This is your night, you order whatever you want." Bryce ignored me and flagged down our waiter, I saw that Niles was rolling his eyes with me.   
  
"Alright Daph, what do you want, my treat?" I turned to Niles, we weren't getting out of this one.  
  
"That's all right," I said to the waiter, who subsequently left.  
  
"Daph? Why not?" Bryce asked.  
  
"Because I can't," Bryce just stared at me.  
  
"What do you mean you can't? Daphne you're not back to sniffing glue again, are you?" Niles turned towards me slowly, I just glared at Bryce.  
  
"Of course not. I did that once because Billy convinced me it was fun. You know full well that the real glue sniffers were my brothers." Niles patted my back.  
  
"Then Niles prescribed something for you, right? To calm you down, bring you back to your senses." I sat there, blinking at my longtime friend, flabbergasted. Niles didn't even have his prescription pad with him.  
  
"Excuse me?" my husband exclaimed at Bryce. Ashley was simply watching this ping-pong match, astounded.  
  
"Well, Daphne has been acting dreadfully off lately, a few pills would fix that, right?"  
  
"I would never even think of doing such a thing. That's completely unethical," Niles' fists were clenched. I couldn't believe Bryce was convinced of this.  
  
"I'm sorry mate, I just figured this could be a legitimate problem. I've often heard of mood swings and the such that can be controlled by medication," Bryce was backing down, thank god, I was afraid I was going to have to kill him.  
  
"No, there is no problem here. Daphne's mood swings cannot be altered by medication." I gave my husband a quick glance. He realized what he said and mouthed "sorry" to me.   
  
"But there is something causing all this then?" Ashley asked. She was slightly shaking her head from her confusion.  
  
"Yes there is, but we really didn't want to mention anything."  
  
"Now that doesn't work, come on, tell us," Bryce said. I chuckled.  
  
"I don't know, you seem to think I need my husband to medicate me," I glared at Bryce, Niles chuckled and kissed my cheek.  
  
"I'm sorry Daphne, you just haven't been acting like yourself, that's all." I was starting to wonder just how far along I really was.  
  
"It's more like myself plus one. You know that extra person can cause a lot of havoc and yet they can't be blamed," what was I saying? Niles gave me a look that let me know he was thinking the same thing.  
  
"Ok, if there is a personality issue going on here you really should be medicating her, Niles." Niles and I just starting laughing at that. He eventually put his head on my shoulder.  
  
"It's not a personality issue, Bryce. Though it was my psychiatrist that figured it out," I said, Niles sat up, smiling at me.  
  
"Now, nothing is official yet, so keep that in mind," Niles began, "But some of Daphne's peculiar behaviors might just be traced back not to a personality but rather to a baby." Bryce stared at us with his jaw slightly ajar. Ashley gasped and brought her hands up to her mouth.  
  
"No!" she said. My nerves faded upon seeing her delight. I couldn't even begin to try not to smile. Niles was rubbing my hand.  
  
"Are you serious mate?" Bryce asked, finally managing to get his jaw back into working order. He was staring directly at me so I nodded.  
  
"Depending on when you have you're wedding I might just be waddling around."  
  
"That does explain why you've been acting so strange, Daph," Bryce said.  
  
"It does, and then some."  
  
"How far along do you think you are?" Ashley asked.  
  
"Could be a couple months," Niles said. A couple months? Oh my god, it really could be a couple months, that's a couple months less available to prepare. This was finally starting to hit me. Sometimes things become real once you start talking about it with other people.  
  
"Oh my god, a couple months?" I said, suddenly I was losing it. Niles rubbed my back.  
  
"Or a couple weeks, don't worry about it yet, sweetie," he then kissed my forehead. His kiss relaxed me however his words did not.  
  
"If only my actions didn't confirm the month and not week theory," Niles kissed my lips as our drinks arrived.  
  
"Well, now that Daphne is calm and without any dreadful alcohol, shall we make a toast?" Bryce asked, we all raised our glasses, the waiter had been nice enough to give me the same type of glass.  
  
"To Ashley and myself and to Niles and Daphne's newest addition." We then all clicked glasses.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When we arrived back to our room that night Daphne collapsed onto the bed. She was making this a habit. I guessed I would find her on the fainting couch quite often.  
  
"Oh, I think I ate too much," she complained. I kissed her stomach.  
  
"Why do you say that?" I asked while I began to take off my shoes.  
  
"Well," she said while propping herself up, "I can feel that last bite of desert in my neck and this skirt is too tight," her last statement caught me, I glanced over at her.  
  
"Umm, sweetie, that might not be just dinner." She looked at me for a second before running into the bathroom. I followed. I found her in front of the mirror, sideways.  
  
"I don't really see any difference, do you?" she asked. I wrapped my arms around her.  
  
"If we do see anything it's probably just a fabrication of our imaginations," she kissed me.  
  
"You and your psychological mumble jumble," she said as she left the bathroom. I exited to find her back on the bed. "I seriously ate too much," she said again. I took off my suite jacket.  
  
"Honey, you are eating for two, its ok." She moved so that she was sitting against the headrest.  
  
"I'll be huge in no time," she sighed.  
  
"I'll love every inch of you," I crawled over to her and began kissing her arm.   
  
"I just want to know for sure," I stopped for a moment.  
  
"We will soon enough, and then we won't get another vacation for quite some time," I let my voice trail off as I gave her puppy dog eyes.  
  
"You're right," she then threw herself into my arms and kissed me deeply.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The rest of Niles and Daphne's stay in London was wonderful. Although the breakfast thing did become a bit of a competition, one day we arrived at the same time, both an hour late. The people around us had no idea why we were laughing so. And Daphne's pregnancy… well, it made sense. I have fond memories of her mom pregnant, which she was for about nine years straight, and she was quite loony. Now, I'm not saying that Daphne's turning into her mother, just that the signs add up. I would be seriously shocked if they found out they weren't pregnant. And I know they both would be crushed. Niles had even purchased a souvenir for their baby, a tiny t-shirt of the British flag.  
  
As for Ashley and I, well, I'm glad Daphne gave me that little push. I was ecstatic that I was finally getting married myself. And it all just made me realize how foolish Daph and I were to get engaged in the first place. We weren't sure, when it's right you know, you just know. We were all eating breakfast one last time before we drove Niles and Daphne back to the airport.  
  
"Excited to be going home?" Ashley asked them.  
  
"Yes, very," Daphne began, "we have some redecorating to do." Niles put down his fork.  
  
"You are not moving anything in your condition," he said. "Frasier and I will move everything, or I'll hire someone."  
  
"As amusing as it sounds to watch you and your brother move heavy objects I'd like you to actually meet our child, so let's hire someone," she then gave him a kiss. Ashley and I were laughing. Daphne caught us. "Bryce, you've seen Frasier, they are exactly alike. One time the two of them couldn't even move their Father's recliner, so it ended up nicking the floor. Which just meant that the floor had to be completely re-fixed." I saw Niles stiffen up.  
  
"I don't like that memory," Daphne looked at him, she was trying to figure out why he said that and then her eyes got wide, she seemed to have realized it.  
  
"Oh, Joe," she then turned to us while placing a hand on Niles' shoulder. "The guy they got to fix the floor ended up dating me for a while."  
  
"Oh, I see," Ashley said. "You'll tell us when the baby's due, right?" Ashley loves to change topics. Niles and Daphne laughed.  
  
"Right after we let my family know that we are having one," Niles responded.  
  
"My family can just guess," Daphne said. I started laughing.  
  
"Daphne Crane," I said to her.  
  
"Oh, all right," she sighed. Niles gave me a look of thanks.  
  
"Have you two done any wedding planning thus far?" Niles asked. I looked at Ashley.  
  
"Well, we've thrown around a few ideas, but that's about it," she responded for me.  
  
"I hope I'll be able to make it to the wedding," Daphne said.  
  
"Well, if you let us know when the baby's due maybe we can make that work for you," I smiled devilishly at Daphne. She stared at me.  
  
"Bryce McGee, we'll see."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
This vacation seemed long and short at the same time. Time wise it felt short, but when I stopped to remember everything that had happened it seemed like an awfully long trip. Frighteningly long. I still couldn't believe how well it turned out, I was sure I didn't deserve it.  
  
I was sad to leave Bryce and Ashley. It really was a shame we lived so far apart. Then again, that was part of the beauty of our relationship, hard to get fed up with one another from across the Atlantic. Even Niles looked like he was sad. To top it all off I hadn't been having the best morning. I was feeling a little queasy. It probably was just the pregnancy but it was not a feeling I wanted before a long flight home.   
  
As it turned out I slept for most of the flight, as did Niles. We were out late the night before, Bryce and Ashley did not let us go easily. Our nap was helpful for dealing with the time change for we actually had some energy when we arrived in Seattle.   
  
Once we arrived home it was a wonderful feeling. I placed my bags down, well, the two that Niles allowed me to carry, and walked over to the couch to sit down, or rather, lay down. Niles let out a laugh.  
  
"I knew you'd do that," he said, coming over and giving me a kiss.  
  
"How did you know that?" I asked while sitting up so that he could sit beside me.  
  
"Well, for starters, you plopped down onto the bed every time we returned to the hotel room," I didn't remember that.  
  
"Really?" I asked, he kissed me again.  
  
"Really." He brought a few bags upstairs as I sat where I was and looked around. It felt good to be home and for the first time since I was married the Montana had a true home feeling for me. My husband soon returned with the phonebook and the phone, "Call your doctor." I took the items from him as I laughed.  
  
"Anxious are we?" I asked, teasing him.  
  
"Very," he curled up next to me. "I was fine this last week and a half but now I'd really like to know. I've already decided which room we could convert into a baby room and I would like to prevent myself from any extremes." I laughed at him and gave him a kiss.  
  
"What's so funny?" he asked while I dialed.  
  
"So have I."   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was lucky and was able to land a doctor's appointment for the next morning. The nurse made the mistake of asking why I thought I might be pregnant and I made the mistake of telling her the whole story. I think I ended up scaring the poor dear.  
  
They told me they'd call me later once they received the results. I went to Nervosa, out of habit, and ended up ordering myself some tea. I was sitting there, thinking of how sure I was that I was pregnant, when Roz showed up.  
  
"I see it's back to married bliss for you," she said while sitting down opposite me.  
  
"Thankfully yes," I replied.  
  
"What exactly happened?" Roz asked. "I was relieved when Frasier told me that everything was ok but all I could remember was that door slam on the phone before you hung up." Oh dear, that's right.  
  
"Well I had called you in the thick of the storm. Shortly thereafter Niles had taken off his wedding band and left."  
  
"Niles did that?" Roz asked. I sighed and settled back in my chair to explain to her the full story. I was quite pleased with myself that I had no hesitation in doing so anymore. "That's one hell of a vacation," Roz said once I had finished.  
  
"Tell me about it, and we still had a week and a half to have fun." I then saw my wonderful husband enter the café.  
  
"Hello Roz, Hi Daphne," he gave me a kiss, placed his order, then sat down next to me.   
  
"Any word yet?" he asked me, I shook my head.   
  
"Anything interesting happen while we were away?" I asked. Roz just shook her head.  
  
"Unless you count my continual failure to achieve a second date, no," She was certainly having some bad luck. "Anything else of interest happen on your trip, did someone get hit by a car or something?" Niles and I laughed at her.  
  
"Actually Bryce and Ashley got engaged," I said. She didn't seem thrilled.  
  
"Really? That's wonderful," her voice was flat. She then rose and left.  
  
"I'm worried about Roz," I said to Niles.  
  
"Don't be, I talked to Frasier today, she just had a really bad date two nights ago and she's been like this ever since." I still felt bad. "So how did the doctor's visit go?"  
  
"Fine, they took some blood, did a few tests and said they'd get back to me." Niles sighed. I gave him a kiss. "If you can't be patient now how are you going to be for the next seven to nine months," I said while rising. Unfortunately because of that I didn't see Frasier enter.  
  
"What's going on in the next seven to nine months?" he asked. I looked at Niles, he shrugged. I had to field this one.  
  
"Oh, you know, all the decorating we've been talking about doing, I just figure that it will take a while, especially following this streak we've been under." Frasier seemed like he would buy it. "Well, I've got to go see how lazy Dad's been, bye." I gave Niles a kiss.  
  
"Call me if you hear anything," Frasier looked at Niles strangely, I gave my husband a look, "from Ashley or Bryce," he finished. I smiled at him and then left.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Martin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It had been a long three weeks without Niles and Daphne. They had called the night before to let us know that they had arrived in one piece. I took that as finally knowing that their marriage wasn't in shambles. When Frasier told me about their troubles I could not believe it. I didn't think they'd have these types of problems, at least not this early.  
  
Daphne showed up that afternoon. She had warned me to keep up with my exercises while she was away and I'll admit to you that I slacked, big time. I had three weeks ya know. However Daphne didn't notice, like she normally does. She actually praised me for keeping to my word. I started paying closer attention to her after that. If she was going easy on my exercises something was definitely up. And she continued to do weird things, just proving my suspicion further. I got my chance to say something after she walked into the kitchen and then walked immediately back into the living room.  
  
"What did I go in there for?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know, but you can get me a beer," I replied.  
  
"No, I went into the kitchen for a reason, I'm sure I did," her voice trailed off. "Water, that's it!" she exclaimed and headed back towards the kitchen.  
  
"Don't forget my beer!" I called after. She returned with both.  
  
"You and your precious beer," she mumbled before sitting back down on the couch. I turned off the television.  
  
"All right Daph, what's wrong?" she looked over at me, I knew there was something there.  
  
"What are you talking about?" she replied.  
  
"Well, you don't normally forget things that quickly and you gave me the easiest day of exercising ever," I realized I shouldn't have mentioned that last part.  
  
"I can fix that last part," she said, I squirmed. "Can't a person be nice and forgetful sometimes?" she asked, her eyes were too wide. Just then the phone rang and she answered it.  
  
"Hello? – Hi Niles. – No, I'm fine. – No, I haven't heard anything yet. – Yes, your father's fine but he's prying." I rolled my eyes. "Ok, will do. – Love you too, bye." She then hung up the phone.   
  
"Come on Daph, I know you're hiding something from me." She sat back down on the couch.  
  
"So? Old man," she was giving me her "I'm-not-going-to-tell" look.  
  
"I can keep a secret," I replied. She stood up.  
  
"I'm not sure about that, and besides, I don't think you'd want to know about this anyways."  
  
"Oh Geez. I can too keep a secret, I was a cop for thirty-years, and what wouldn't I want to know?" she turned around with a sly smile.  
  
"Well, with Freddy and all I figured you were good with grandchildren," what does that have to do with – Oh. I swear my eyes must have bugged right out of my head.  
  
"Daph, you're pregnant?" she beamed at me.  
  
"Possibly so, I'm still waiting for confirmation." I got out of my chair to give her a hug.  
  
"That's great!" I exclaimed.  
  
"Just don't tell Frasier, I'm sure Niles wants that liberty."  
  
"My lips are sealed." Unfortunately my smile wasn't.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was anxious to get home from work but leaving for three weeks meant I had a lot of paperwork to catch up on. I stopped calling Daphne so as to get my work done at a faster pace. I ended up staying only an hour later so my timing was not atrocious.   
  
When I arrived home I found my wife curled up on the couch, watching the television. I discarded my belongings as she turned off the television and rose to great me.  
  
"Hi Niles," she said while kissing me. I couldn't read her face.  
  
"So?" I asked, my eyebrows raised. Slowly a vast grin appeared over her face and she nodded her head. A wave of enthusiasm overcame me as I pulled her into my arms and gave her a tight hug, then a huge kiss. She pulled back.  
  
"I also know when," she said, still smiling broadly. I didn't expect to find that out so quickly.   
  
"Was it a wedding night conception after all?" I asked while smiling, she chuckled.  
  
"Sadly no," she moved towards me and fiddled with my tie, "that would have been impossible." She then kissed my shocked face.  
  
"So just how pregnant are you?" I asked, wondering what the possibilities really were.  
  
"No more guesses?" she asked. Her smile was tantalizing me, I just wanted to know what the answer was.  
  
"How far before the wedding?" I asked. She kissed me.  
  
"Two weeks." Two weeks, that meant…  
  
"So we're two and a half months pregnant?" I asked, my breathing was becoming a little difficult to control.  
  
"Yes, no wonder I was so loony, right?" she asked but I was still having trouble breathing. She rubbed my back and led me over to the couch.  
  
"I'm – sorry, this just became – very real," I said in-between gasps.   
  
"You should have seen me earlier," she sighed. I finally was able to breath normally, Daphne finished rubbing my back and sat down next to me.  
  
"What happened earlier?"  
  
"Let's just say that our kitchen had a fudge attack," I couldn't help but to chuckle at her and kiss her cheek. "You think I'm kidding, wait till you see the kitchen," I sat back; I was becoming leery of what state the kitchen actually was in.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next day I met my brother in Nervosa. When I arrived he already had his coffee. I ordered mine and sat down.  
  
"Hi Niles," my brother grumbled.  
  
"What's the matter with you?" I asked.  
  
"Oh, it's Dad. He's being a nuisance."  
  
"What's he doing now?" I asked as my coffee arrived.  
  
"He won't tell me his secret." My brother's still petulant and I'm having quite a hard time keeping myself from laughing, thankfully Dad was keeping the pregnancy quiet. Daphne and I had called him last night to confirm our child for him. We had managed to keep Frasier away from the phone, Dad pretended we were Duke. Remembering all this made me want to laugh twice as hard. Unfortunately Frasier noticed I was trying to hold my laughter in.  
  
"You! It's your secret!" he exclaimed, sending me into a fit of hysterics.   
  
"It's not mine alone, it's mine and Daphne's," I finally managed to say. My brother looked at me askance.   
  
"Well, you're already married and it appears that you're not having any more dilemmas…" I just sat still. My brother would eventually figure it out. Daphne then entered the café.   
  
"Hi Frasier, hello Niles," she said, giving me a kiss and sitting down next to me. The waiter then came over. "Oh, just a hot chocolate for me, I need some type of caffeine today." My brother then let in the loudest gasp I have ever heard in my life, and I've heard him do that quite often. Daphne looked at me.  
  
"I just gave him a few clues," I said.  
  
"You gave me one clue!" Frasier exclaimed.  
  
"And the hot chocolate," I replied. Frasier then lowered his voice.  
  
"You two are having a baby?" My wife and I proceeded to giggle like five year olds. Which is ironic because five year olds shouldn't be having children in the first place. "Oh, Niles, Daphne, that's wonderful." Frasier then gave us both a hug. "Did this just happen?" Frasier's question sent Daphne and I into a fit of hysterics.  
  
"The baby or finding out about the baby?" Daphne asked, my brother glared at her.  
  
"The baby, when should I expect my new niece or nephew?"  
  
"Oh, in about six or seven months," Daphne replied. Frasier blinked. "That means I'm 10 weeks pregnant."  
  
"Yes, I know what that means. That was, before the wedding," Frasier said slowly. Daphne started chuckling again, I nudged her.  
  
"Do you have a problem with that, brother?" I asked.  
  
"No, no, of course not." And yet I didn't believe him. I was going to have to have a little chat with Dad. I then realized that he wasn't finished talking. "However that's not the best standards to be setting for the young one, is it?" Standards? Who does he think he's talking to, Roz?  
  
"What are you talking about?" Daphne asked, quite shocked as well.   
  
"Let's look at the issue at hand here, shall we?" Daphne's drink arrived, much to the obliviousness of my wife and I. "Two weeks, _before _the wedding, you two join in a tryst that results in a child, _conceived _out of wedlock. Now, it will not be noticeable to the world that this was the case but this child, this innocent little being, will _know._" My brother was talking nonsense.   
  
"This from a man who has sex out of wedlock," Daphne replied dryly, finally paying attention to her drink. Frasier glared at her.  
  
"Mistakes do happen, I'll warrant that. But look at all you two have been through in the past year, do you really want to be adding a child to this milieu?"  
  
"You know Frasier, you do bring up a good point," I began. My brother sat back smugly. "Next time I decide to have an unplanned child, whom I love dearly, I'll make sure to stop by your place first just to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Oh, better yet, I'll simply refrain from having sex at all until you're absolutely positive that another person won't make the earth tilt off it's axis and spin into the sun!" Frasier stood up.  
  
"Well, I never."  
  
"Oh put a sock in it," Daphne began. "You have no idea what you are talking about." My brother then stormed out of the café. "I'm surprised _he _hasn't thrown the earth of its axis himself," Daphne grumbled.  
  
"He would if he could." She turned towards me.  
  
"Promise me one thing, that you will never, ever ask your brother for permission to have sex with me." I kissed her.  
  
"I haven't done that yet and I don't feel like starting now."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Things have certainly been moving fast in my brother's life. Of course I realize that this pregnancy wasn't planned, still, it was a bit of a shock. I was hoping Niles and Daphne would be able to find some tranquility and a baby will do nothing of the sort. They were oblivious as to the quandary they were really just entering into.  
  
I arrived home to find my father where he normally is.  
  
"Hey Frasier," Dad said, instantly turning towards me.  
  
"Hi Dad," I responded.  
  
"Did you talk to Niles?" my father was certainly excited about this.  
  
"Yes, we met today in Nervosa."  
  
"And?"   
  
"And Niles and Daphne told me about the baby, yes." Dad shifted in his seat, smiling wide.  
  
"Isn't it great?" he asked. I wasn't so sure.  
  
"Well, Dad…"   
  
"Now Frasier, don't start."  
  
"Its just, well, their child got a head start on their marriage." Dad just looked at me.  
  
"You had no problem with Roz's child."  
  
"Yes, but that was Roz." My father sighed.  
  
"Look Frasier, these things happen. They're married now and happy, what more do you want?"  
  
"I suppose you're right," I said as I attempted to make my way towards my room.  
  
"Of course I am. And you would have no reason to complain anyways," Dad then turned the television back on.  
  
"Why wouldn't I? I was married when Frederick was conceived." Dad shook his head.  
  
"I'm talking about quite a few years before that." I paused, I was quite positive that I didn't have any other children.  
  
"Dad, I'm not following you."  
  
"Let me put it to you this way, Fras. Add a couple of months to Daphne's pregnancy and you've got your mother and I." My jaw fell open. That meant…  
  
"Mom was pregnant with me when you two got married?!"  
  
"Yup, she was the cutest thing, waddling down the aisle." Waddling…  
  
"Mom was very pregnant when you two got married?"  
  
"Yeah," Dad was calm and collected, I was going insane.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me this?" I asked, my father turned around.  
  
"Consider your reaction and then get back to me." He turned back to his game as I stormed off to my bedroom. I hated being wrong.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End~of~Part~III~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	4. Moon Swings, part IV

_Summary: See part I. Also, unless you are a detective, or even if you are, you might want to check out the first section before beginning this one for the sake of my writing making sense.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to the brilliant minds of Paramount and Grub St. This story is merely for the enjoyment of those who read it and nothing more. Enjoy!_  
  
**Moon Swings**  
Part IV  
  
          By Laura Brown  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I was finishing the rest of our unpacking when I came across our old wedding bands. I sat down and took a good hard look at them. I was trying to remember what had possessed me to want this particular band in the first place. I know that I didn't start joking about Bryce being the copper platinum right away. Then I tried to remember when we actually bought the bands. It was last on our list, we did so a week before the wedding.  
  
I had instantly thought of the white gold as Niles and the gold as me. The copper platinum seemed important, somehow, another person. The closest one in my head was Bryce…  
  
It all started to make sense to me. Oh, I was probably just fabricated something out of my own desires, but it seemed so real. The copper platinum represented something that I couldn't put my finger on, our baby, and our bond to each other. Maybe I wasn't such a nutcase after all.   
  
I made my way into the kitchen where Niles was cooking dinner.   
  
"Food should be ready in about a half an hour," he said, his back towards me, instantly noticing my presence.  
  
"I can wait," I replied. Niles finished stirring his pasta and then turned towards me.  
  
"What's that?" he asked, noticing I was holding something in my hands. I showed him it was our old bands.  
  
"I was thinking about when we bought these, I was already pregnant at that point. Could it be possible that the copper platinum was really this little one and not Bryce at all?" My husband arched an eyebrow at me.   
  
"Perhaps," he wasn't convinced.  
  
"Hear me out. I knew that the copper represented something, someone, so I threw Bryce in there." He crossed his arms.  
  
"Then what about everything that happened in England?" I picked up a carrot.  
  
"That was the hormones." Niles gave me a kiss.  
  
"So you are telling me that the copper platinum wasn't Bryce at all but represents our child?" I smiled at him.  
  
"That's what I'm saying."  
  
"What if we decide to have more than one child?" he had a sly smile on, he was trying to catch me.   
  
"It could be plural, right?" he stared at me. "Oh alright, I was just trying to do something nice." I turned to leave; he caught me and wrapped his arms around me.  
  
"And where do you think you're going?" he asked.  
  
"Well, I was going to find someplace to put these, unless you have an idea of what we should do with them?" I turned my head and could see my husband thinking.  
  
"I would like to keep these… Oh! I've got it," he turned me around. "We could place it on the desk in the bedroom. Decorative yet sentimental." He was grinning from ear to ear. I kind of liked the idea.  
  
"Sounds good to me," I gave him a kiss. "Finally some decorating I'm allowed to do." I gave him a smile before exiting the kitchen.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Roz~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was almost nightfall when my doorbell rang. My one-year-old daughter attempted to go over and open the door for me. Of course, I'm used to gravity and arrived first. I found Daphne on the other side of the door.  
  
"Hey Daph," I replied, Alice appeared next to me.  
  
"Hi Roz! Hello Alice!" Daphne exclaimed, picking my daughter up. I let Daphne into the apartment.  
  
"What brings you here?" I asked. Daphne sat down, still holding Alice.  
  
"Well, I hadn't seen my friend in quite some time. I was a little worried about how upset you were when you left Nervosa yesterday. And… I have some news." Daphne was excited, that was plain to see. And I was curious.  
  
"Alright, out with it, what's your news?" Daphne put down Alice, not before kissing her head.   
  
"I want to know how you're doing first," Daphne said, her face showing her concern.  
  
"I'm fine, just had a really awful date. It's not worth getting into, let's just say that his wife called during dinner." Daphne put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed, I was ready to move on from that experience. "But all that can wait, what's your news?" Daphne sat back and grinned.   
  
"Do you think Alice could use a playmate?" Daphne asked.  
  
"She does have a few playmates, Daphne," I sighed; I just wanted to know what was going on.  
  
"You sure, not a younger friend, almost like a cousin?" Daphne's eyebrows were arched. Wait…  
  
"Daphne, are you pregnant?" I asked. She beamed. Oh man was she ever.  
  
"Yes, I am!" I gave her a hug.  
  
"Wanna practice on Alice?" I asked. My daughter was now standing in front of me, her arms raised. I picked her up.   
  
"If you need a babysitter just let Niles and I know, I'm sure we could use the practice."  
  
"So how far along are you?"   
  
"Ten weeks." Wow!  
  
"That's pretty far," I replied, Daphne sighed.  
  
"Yeah, nothing like a little stress to throw a person off course. However I realize now that this little one," she patted her stomach, "helped in the whole deal." Of course.  
  
"No tranquility for you, huh?" We both laughed.  
  
"I think I'm immune to it now. Let's face it, if I saw tranquility I probably wouldn't know what it was." We laughed again. Then I smelled something.  
  
"Alice?" I asked, picking her up. "Is it time to change your diaper?" She looked at me. I waited, eventually she nodded her head. I stood up but Daphne stopped me.  
  
"I'll help you with that," she replied, taking Alice. "I need the practice and you do this enough on your own." My friend then disappeared into Alice's bedroom. This was going to be a nice change.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I could not believe how lightheartedly everyone was taking this news of the baby. I was modestly excited at the prospect of being an uncle myself, however the timing was atrocious. And now I knew that my own conception was the main reason why my parents got married when they did. Why it took my father over forty years to finally tell me is beyond me. Though I will admit that my frustration does explain it just a tad.  
  
At work the next day Roz saw right through my happy façade.   
  
"What's eating you?" Roz asked as she put a few things away on my side of the booth.  
  
"Take a wild guess," I replied dryly.  
  
"The baby? You're upset with an innocent unborn baby?" Roz was glaring at me with her hands on her hips.  
  
"Not the baby his or her self, the conception." Roz rolled her eyes.  
  
"Think twice before saying that to a single mom," she then returned to her side of the booth, I followed her.  
  
"It's different. Niles and Daphne could have waited a while, should have, they're not ready to handle this!" Roz snorted at me.  
  
"Sounds to me like you're the one that isn't ready to handle this," Roz replied. I stood still, stunned, and watched her move around the booth. She had a point, a darn good point. What reason did I have to be upset with my brother and sister-in-law for a child they did not plan but are preparing to love and care for regardless? My silence finally awarded me a reaction out of Roz.  
  
"I see I've made a correct diagnosis. Would you like to sit on this side of the booth for a change?" she smirked at me.   
  
"But Roz, why would I have a problem with all this? I'm excited to finally become an uncle," I was leaning up against the console; Roz took a few steps towards me.  
  
"How much time have you been able to spend with Niles since he and Daphne got together?" Her question was like a punch.  
  
"Not a whole lot, planning the wedding did take up a great deal of his time," and now the baby will take up the rest.  
  
"Exactly. It's hard enough to have a 'boys' night out' with a newlywed, never mind a new father." But it was more than that.  
  
"Roz, Niles is my paramount companion. I've become dependent on the time we spend together. I must say, I've missed his company the last few months." Roz put a hand on my shoulder.  
  
"And I'm sure he's missed yours. Yes, your brother is busy but think about it this way, you are an experienced father. You'll be able to help them out with their first child. Furthermore visiting your new niece or nephew can also turn into spending time with Niles," Roz had another wonderful point. And I was feeling tremendously healthier. I wasn't losing a brother and a friend; I was gaining a family member. I smiled to Roz, squeezed her hand that was still on my shoulder, and then returned back to my side of the booth.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Frasier was still grumbling the next day when I saw him at Nervosa. I paid it no mind, I knew eventually he would return to his senses, or at least, I hoped. Perhaps spending time with Dad and Daphne would do the trick. I knew I was going to need my older brother in the next few months. As much as I was thrilled to have a child of my own I felt that I had absolutely no clue as to how to be a good one. I stopped by Frasier's apartment on the way home from work to see my growing family. Frasier answered the door.  
  
"Niles," was my brother's short response. I walked over to Daphne, or rather, to her stomach.  
  
"Don't worry, your uncle loves you regardless." I then gave my unborn child a kiss. Following which Daphne laughed and kissed me as Dad laughed as well. Frasier moved over to us.  
  
"Niles, Daphne, I'm sorry to be such a thorn, but this is quite surprising news." My brother was finally stepping down off his high horse to join the rest of the world.  
  
"That's the fifth time he's apologized, I'm quite enjoying the sensation," Daphne said. I looked at my brother, truth be told, he did look sorry.  
  
"For the way I treated you two that should only begin to scratch the surface, I was exceptionally foolish." That, my brother, is very true.   
  
"I'd use a stronger word than 'foolish' if I were you," Dad spoke up.  
  
"Yes, Dad, I know," was Frasier's response. It sounded to me as if this conversation had been taken place for a few hours now. I was sitting next to Daphne on the couch and Frasier came over to sit on the ledge by us, after he finished glaring at Dad. "So why did it take so long to discover this little miracle."   
  
"Frasier, you saw the stress that Daphne was under," I replied.  
  
"I thought that was a result not a cause?" Frasier asked.  
  
"I think it was a little bit of both," Daphne began. "Between planning a wedding and moving I had so much going on that I missed the signs, then add a few more complications and shifting hormones, along with a very large marital problem, and these things do go unnoticed," Daphne said this all so matter-of-factly, though she was holding my hand and would squeeze it periodically.  
  
"Didn't you guys figure this out during the problems?" Dad asked, obviously remembering from a conversation he must have had with Daphne. Frasier turned to us questionably.  
  
"Yes, we did," I replied. Daphne turned towards me sharply.  
  
"No, you did. Niles was the one to figure this out; I thought it was just stress. Of course my darling husband decides to realize that we were having a baby together when he wasn't even wearing our wedding band and had a flight booked to go home early," Daphne sighed and I put my arm around her. Had it really been just a short while ago that this all happened?  
  
"How do you come up with the notion of a child at a moment such as that?" Frasier asked me, I laughed.   
  
"I simply looked at the clues in a different manner then she did," was my response. Dad had been looking at our hands.  
  
"Aren't those bands different from the ones you two were married in?" Dad asked. Daphne and I started laughing, we hadn't told anyone else about that, no one had noticed, up to now.  
  
"Yes, Dad, they are," Daphne said. Frasier was looking at Daphne's hand.  
  
"These are exquisite, but why did you change?" Daphne looked at me.  
  
"Let's just say that our old ones had a few bad vibes," I supplied. Frasier sat back with an "ahh" face on. It felt good to be back on good terms with my brother.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When Niles and I arrived home there was a message on our answering machine from Bryce.  
  
"Hello Niles and Daphne, you two have been home for four days and Ashley and I are want to know whether we are reaching a family of two or three, call us." Niles and I laughed at the message.  
  
"Aren't they eager?" Niles asked.  
  
"Very, you'd think it was their baby."  
  
"Should we call?" Niles was now holding me.  
  
"I suppose, if we don't Bryce is liable to start leaving vicious messages." I then headed over to the phone and dialed. Niles also got on the phone.  
  
"Hello?" came Ashley's voice.  
  
"One last chance to guess, how many Crane's are on the phone with you?" I asked. I could hear Ashley's excitement in the way she called Bryce's name.  
  
"Bryce! It's Daphne! She wants to know how many Crane's are on the phone," I then heard another phone pickup.  
  
"I'd guess four," came Bryce's voice.  
  
"Why four?" Niles asked.  
  
"Twins," came Bryce's response.  
  
"You are evil, you know that?" I replied, twins would be just too much.  
  
"So are you or aren't you?" Ashley asked. I glanced over at Niles.  
  
"We are," he responded.   
  
"Congratulations, mates," Bryce said.  
  
"Yes, I'm so happy for you two," came Ashley's voice.  
  
"So when's the due date?" Bryce asked. This time Niles looked at me.  
  
"I don't want you two planning your wedding around me," I responded.  
  
"Oh hush, we're indecisive anyways, it would be a great help," Ashley said.  
  
"Well, we're already at ten weeks," I heard Ashley gasp.  
  
"That's far!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Nope, that makes sense," Bryce responded. Niles and I could only laugh to that, for it did make a lot of sense.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A few weeks later I hit three months, that's when we really started to notice some changes. My appetite had already increased and I now had the tiniest stomach. If I wore something that was tight from the right angle one could tell that I was pregnant. Of course, it wasn't that noticeable yet, but for two excited parents-to-be, every little bit counts. I was also noticing that my crazy behavior was continuing. I was afraid that I was turning into my mother after all. Niles kept on reassuring me that I would be just fine but I had my fears otherwise. I didn't want to cause any more problems, even though I knew Niles was being very lenient with me, knowing full well that the hormones were causing most of my erratic behavior.   
  
I decided that I needed to ask Frasier and Dad for their help in keeping my budding family sane. I didn't want to risk any problems for Niles or our baby. I got my chance one evening after both Niles and Frasier had arrived.  
  
  
**Niles**  
  
My brother had certainly come around about the whole baby issue. I couldn't have been happier. He was coming over and helping Daphne and I out, giving ideas and suggestions. It was my brother, however, and it was becoming overwhelming. I feared that shortly Daphne and I were going to have to start kicking him out. Frasier and I had gone to an afternoon choral concert, which was lovely. Relaxing music was a must; I was becoming progressively worried about the baby. It also gave me a chance to spend time with Frasier, sans baby talk. Once back to his place I sat down next to Daphne. She sighed and placed her head on my shoulder, I knew she was about to mention a concern of hers to Dad and Frasier.  
  
"Dad, Frasier, I need you two to promise me something, for the sake of my husband and child," Daphne asked. Frasier and Dad nodded. "That you will keep us somewhat sane over the next six months. We've all seen what damage I've done in the first two I don't want to see what else I could possible screw up." Frasier, Dad, and I laughed. Daphne was developing the ability to be overly cautious about everything. "I'm serious, my mother broke Simon's wrist when she was pregnant with Nigel." We all stopped laughing. Bryce had already mentioned that Daphne's pregnant behavior was reminding him of her mother, and he added a 'watch out' to that sentiment. I was becoming nervous.  
  
"Now, now, Daphne," Frasier began. "Symptoms such as those don't necessarily flow from mother to daughter without fail." I was thankful to my brother for bringing up that thought, it helped to ease mine.  
  
"Here's hoping. But if they do you two are the peacemakers," I gave my wife a kiss.  
  
I don't know if we'll be able to succeed in that," Dad said.  
  
"Try, old man. If you refuse I'll just sit here and recall all the horror stories from when my mother was pregnant, all nine times. Especially the time she got so upset at Dad that it took us four days to find out that Peter had been born." My fears were coming back; I held Daphne's hand. My father just looked at her, in shock. Luckily Frasier was able to return to his senses.  
  
"Daphne, I'm sure things will not turn into the same situations," Daphne shifted in her seat, Frasier held up a finger. "However, if such a happenstance should occur Dad and I will do everything in our power to set things right." Daphne eased back into the couch, and to me. I breathed a sigh of relief, if Daphne did turn into her mother I was going to need all the help I could get.  
  
"Thank you, I feel better just knowing that Niles has some support." That took me off guard.  
  
"But what about you?" I asked.  
  
"Oh, I'll be fine, just as long as I don't wreck anymore havoc." I kissed her.  
  
"Wreck all the havoc you have to, just keep our child safe." Daphne smiled and kissed me again. Dad cleared his throat.  
  
"How does dinner sound?" Dad asked. I looked at Daphne.  
  
"Don't look at me, I could eat all day." That was undoubtedly accurate. Her appetite had increased over the past few weeks, which had given me the tiniest bulge to place my hand, where my hand happened to be resting at that precise moment.  
  
"Well, we must feed the pregnant lady then," Frasier said as he grabbed our coats.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Three months later…  
  
"Niles!" I called from the bedroom. "You've got to see this." My husband soon entered the room. I was lying on the bed and the TV set was on. I was also laughing.  
  
"What?" he asked, looking back and forth between the TV and me. "Why are you watching the nature channel?" So that's what all the growling was from. I was afraid it was x-rated.  
  
"I'm not," I replied, still laughing. "I can't see even see the television." And that was the truth. My stomach and baby, six months into the making, were completely blocking my view. Niles chuckled and gave our child a kiss.  
  
"Would you like me to help you two sit up?" he asked.  
  
"Oh dear god yes!" I exclaimed. It took both of us to scoot me up into a sitting position.  
  
"Better?" Niles asked. I looked ahead of me.  
  
"Yes." I gave him a kiss. "How's the baby room coming?" I asked. Niles was in the process of rearranging some furniture that was dropped off earlier.  
  
"It's… coming," he was scratching his head. "I actually could use some help, but the wallpaper fumes are still too strong for the little one." Niles then gave my stomach a rub, I swear, if he was close enough to me he had his hands on our baby, I didn't mind.  
  
"Then take a break with your wife and daughter." That's right, we were having a girl. We had also managed to redecorate the rest of the house as well. It turned out to be only a little bit here and there but it certainly made a difference.  
  
"I don't have to be asked twice," Niles said and then sat down next to me. I turned the television off. "Oh, we got Bryce and Ashley's wedding invitation in the mail today," Niles said casually. The two of them refused to tell us what the date was until we got the invitation.  
  
"And when, pray tell, were you going to tell me this?" I asked. He got up.  
  
"I'll go get it," he said. I placed my hand on my stomach, my little girl was kicking quite gleefully, she seemed to think her mother was some sort of punching bag. Niles soon returned and handed me the invitation, it was beautiful. "The best part is we might be able to make it." I looked at the date; it was two months after I was due.  
  
"But to leave the baby at such a young age?" I asked. I was really attached to my unborn child, who could blame me.  
  
"Honey, look at the envelope." I did, I saw it was addressed to Dr. and Mrs. Niles Crane and daughter. My eyes started to tear.  
  
"Damn them for making me cry." Niles chuckled and pulled me into a hug.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Daphne and I have this streak of rushing into the things, engagement, marriage, pregnancy. Our daughter followed suite and decided she just had to be born three weeks early. Daphne was incredibly emotional when she went into labor, and the fact that we were arranging the baby's belongings at a slow pace didn't help. She shed quite a few tears before we made it to the hospital; she really just wanted a few more weeks to prepare. I called Frasier and Dad; they were on speed dial now for most of Daphne's emotional outbursts. She had had her share, but still was nothing like her mother, for which I was eternally grateful. Once they arrived it was Dad who eventually calmed Daphne down, with a story about when I was born, two weeks early. Apparently it's a Crane trait.   
  
Labor was the worst thing I had ever been through. To watch Daphne in so much pain was just atrocious. And she warded off all medication, for the first ten hours. Then she finally let the doctor soothe her pains. Seven hours after that our daughter entered this world.  
  
Madeline Rose Crane was a tiny little darling, which is to be expected from premature babies. Her pink skin had just the hint of dark brown hair peaking through, her mother's hair. She was gorgeous. And so was Daphne, exhausted after a long days work. Frasier, Dad, and Roz came in to see the baby, I almost didn't think Dad would hand her back.   
  
Madeline had to spend some of her time under an incubator. She didn't like it there and would fuss the whole time. I often stayed with her and repulsively astounded myself, I sat there explaining to her that this is the just the consequences of being born early. Luckily Daphne caught me and brought me back to my senses. From then on I simply soothed our daughter instead of lecturing her unwarrantedly.   
  
Having a baby that you visit at the hospital is one thing, bringing her home is quite another. That was when things finally hit me; I realized that my life was officially changed forever. Carrying my daughter into her bedroom for the first time I smiled broadly. The change felt good. A day later we gave London a call.  
  
"Hello?" Bryce asked.  
  
"Hi Bryce," I responded, I was sure he could hear my enthusiasm.  
  
"Hey Niles," I then heard Ashley in the background, "did they have the baby?" I laughed.  
  
"Tell your fiancée the answer is yes," Daphne said, she was on the phone as well, holding our daughter.  
  
"Congrats, mate," Bryce said.  
  
"Oh, is she tiny, is she precious?" Ashley asked, now on the phone as well. We had gotten into the habit of four way calling.  
  
"Yes, she is radiant, just like her mother," I replied. Daphne gave me the sweetest look.  
  
"She doesn't look like just me now, she does resemble her father quite a bit," Daphne said.  
  
"Well what's her name, lads?" Bryce asked.  
  
"Madeline Rose," Daphne answered.  
  
"What a beautiful name," Ashley sighed.  
  
"Yes, Dad is already calling her Maddy," I responded. I'm not one for nicknames but this one certainly worked for my daughter.  
  
"I like Maddy," Bryce said.  
  
"So do I," joked Daphne. It was true; I had already caught her using it.  
  
"So this means we'll definitely see all three of you at the wedding?" Ashley asked.  
  
"More than likely yes. However our daughter is still only a week old, it's a little hard to look ahead to eleven weeks," I said. And that was the truth; every single second had suddenly become increasingly precious to me.  
  
"Alright, fair enough. Ash, we should let these three alone for now," Bryce said. I turned towards Daphne; Madeline was just beginning to stir.  
  
"Good timing Bryce, you're going to hear crying in about two –" Just then Madeline let out one her famously shrill cries. Daphne put down the phone and began rocking her.  
  
"Quite the set of lungs on that one," Ashley said.  
  
"Yes, I think she gets that from my brother. I'll talk to you two later." I then hung up the phone and went to see what our daughter wanted.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frasier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Madeline was the sweetest little darling I had ever seen. I was in proud uncle mode the moment I laid eyes on my niece. Holding her did make me miss my own son. Luckily Freddy was excited to have a cousin and flew out to visit the next weekend.  
  
It was wonderful to see my son, especially after seeing my brother become a father. I was realizing that there was so much that he'd be able to share with his daughter that I was missing out on. I think Frederick felt that two, we spent a lot of time together that first day until we went over to visit Madeline, Dad in tow.  
  
"Hi Frasier, Dad, Freddy!" Daphne exclaimed upon opening the door. Frederick gave Daphne a hug.  
  
"Madeline, looks who's here?" Niles asked, he was holding his daughter. "It's your cousin Frederick." Niles looked up and smiled at Freddy, holding Maddy so that she could be seen.  
  
"Can I hold her Uncle Niles?" my son asked. Niles chuckled.  
  
"Of course, just be careful of her head." A wave of emotions hit me as Niles transferred Maddy from his arms to Frederick's. I smiled as Dad put a hand on my shoulder.  
  
"Wonderful, isn't it?" he asked. Apparently he knew what I was feeling. I nodded.  
  
"Hello Maddy," Frederick said. Niles looked up towards Daphne with a shocked expression. Daphne simply chuckled. Maddy was fast becoming an official nickname. I suspecting that at some point I would catch the nickname coming out of my brother's mouth as well. "She's beautiful," my son stated. I noticed that Niles and Daphne were beaming.  
  
"I think her parents are fully aware of that," I said.  
  
"I don't think you can rightly blame us," Daphne said, sitting down on the couch next to Niles.  
  
"No, I can't," I replied, looking at how careful Frederick was being with Madeline. Dad sighed happily.  
  
"This is as life should be, surrounded by my three children and my two grandchildren," Dad had been thrilled with this newest addition. Instead of Daphne visiting him during the daytime he was visiting her and Maddy. 'Off to see my girls,' as he would say.  
  
"Uh, Uncle Niles, Aunt Daphne, Maddy's starting to smell," Freddy's nose was all scrunched up, the rest of us laughed. Niles got up.  
  
"I'll take care of that," he took Madeline into his own arms. "Does someone have a dirty diaper?" he asked as he made his way upstairs.  
  
"He loves to change her diaper," Daphne began. " I don't know why and I'm certainly not complaining." Niles had told me that he enjoys every moment with his daughter, even the not so pleasant ones. Watching him and Daphne as parents I realized that my qualms of before were unfounded. They were not only wonderful as parents but they loved every second of it. To them, as well as the rest of us, Madeline Rose was a blessing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Almost three months later Madeline still had just the slightest hint of hair and was growing healthily. However an eleven week old on a long plane flight is not always the best idea especially with my daughter's lungs.   
  
She cried for the first three hours. Daphne and I took turns walking her up and down the aisle, nothing worked. One time as I was walking her I noticed a man that resembled myself, nice suit, nice composure; giving me a dirty look. I remembered that I had done the same to a new set of parents on my last trip to England. Little did I know that was just the beginning of my own journey into fatherhood, and the horrors of disturbing a whole plane full of people. Eventually the poor dear cried herself to sleep, and thankfully stayed that way for the duration of the flight.  
  
Once we landed our daughter woke up and started crying again. Daphne picked her up.  
  
"Oh Maddy. What's the matter, huh? Don't like your mother's home land?" The crying stopped. "Apparently she does." Daphne said to me. Madeline then remained awake, watching her surroundings, taking in the change of scenery. It was almost as if she knew that England was a part of her mother.  
  
This time I followed Daphne out of the airport. Bryce and Ashley were putting the finishing touches on their wedding so we were fending for ourselves and we didn't mind.  
  
It was nice to be on a vacation as a family, just the three of us. We took a cab to the hotel and settled in, which was interesting with a baby. We tried placing her on the bed by herself but she started whimpering, her little fists clenched tightly in the air. We then tried propping her up against the pillows so that she could watch us. That worked for about five minutes; apparently we were not entertaining her enough. Daphne then told me to go attend to 'Miss Madeline,' as she likes to call our daughter when she's being fussy, and that she'd finish unpacking. So I went over to the bed and picked up my daughter.  
  
"Madeline, my darling Madeline, what ever is the matter?" I asked as my daughter stared at me. "Just because Mommy and Daddy had a bad trip here last time doesn't mean that anything bad will happen this time, especially with a beauty like you to remind us how good we are together." Daphne gave my shoulder a kiss.  
  
"Your father's right you know?" she said while taking Madeline from my arms so that I could take care of my last few belongings. Daphne sat down onto the bed with our daughter. "Maddy, Maddy, Maddy, I can't believe you have only been with us for under three months." Daphne was still emotional though she was slowly arriving back to normal. I then heard a small laugh come from my wife. I turned around to see that Madeline was holding one of her fingers.  
  
"Perhaps that's why you weren't as bad as your mother while pregnant," I said, Daphne turned towards me. "Seems as though Madeline was helping you out all she could on the inside, look, she's comforting you even now at eleven weeks." Daphne smiled at me and I gave her a kiss.   
  
"Madeline, are you going to be a psychiatrist like your father and uncle?" Daphne teased our daughter. "I can just see it now, Dr. Madeline Crane." I laughed with Daphne and then joined my family on the bed, giving each a kiss.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bryce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ashley and I had to see little Miss Madeline Crane before the wedding. We had both been dying to see her and hadn't seen our friends in the last nine months as well. Between their pregnancy and our wedding there simply wasn't time. Niles and Daphne arrived in London a week early. Today they were visiting us; tomorrow they were heading off to Manchester to introduce Maddy to the rest of the family.  
  
When the doorbell rang Ashley flew to the door. I was a little worried, she has been doing a lot of baby talk because of these two and I simply was not ready for children. Then again, I doubt Niles and Daphne really were either and they seemed to be handling it rather nicely.  
  
"Oh, isn't she the cutest thing!" I heard Ashley exclaim. By the time I made it to the door Ashley was already holding their baby. "Bryce, isn't she adorable?" I looked at her, she certainly was. She had Daphne's hair, but it looked like she might just have Niles' eyes, they were still a deep shade of blue. Madeline was looking up at Ashley and I, back and forth, just taking it all in.  
  
"She's a people watcher," Niles explained. We led Daphne and Niles into the living room. Ashley was still holding their child.  
  
"Oh, she must be an angel," Ashley said. Daphne and Niles laughed.  
  
"You've heard her lungs, anything that can produce that amount of volume from that tiny a size is not a complete angel," Daphne said, Niles rubbed her back.  
  
"She cry on the flight?" I asked. They nodded wearily, that was all I needed to know. Just then the baby started to fuss. Niles took her.  
  
"Oh come here Madeline, what's wrong?" He rocked her gently and managed to calm her down before she started to cry.  
  
"Niles is wonderful at that," Daphne replied.  
  
"Wonderful at what?" Ashley asked, confused by what just happened.  
  
"Calming her down before she screams." Even with Daphne complaining I could still tell she loved her daughter dearly, especially as she leaned over to watch her little one in Niles' arms. The last time I saw them they weren't even sure they were having a baby, and now it was real. Yes, things moved quite fast in their lives. I looked over at Ashley; she was still watching the baby. I guess things were moving pretty fast in my life as well. Not that I really seemed to mind.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Daphne~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Visiting my family as a new mother was interesting, to say the least. My father scooped up little Maddy and proceeded to start talking to her, telling her stories from when I was young. My mother, on the other hand, decided to hound Niles and I about how to take care of a child. I know that she has the experience of nine children but Niles and I had been managing decently for the past three months on our own. We just sat still and let her rant; there wasn't much else that could be done.   
  
At one point I looked over to see Madeline staring intently up at her grandfather, one of her tiny hands grasped onto his shirt. I smiled to myself upon seeing that. My father was taking quite a shining to his granddaughter, and she to him. A few of my brothers' arrived later and they actually behaved, as they often do around newborns. If Madeline was a one-year-old things would have been different, one thing I was thankful for.  
  
Niles and I left after spending only one day with my family. We felt that one would be enough and told them we were involved in wedding preparations for Ashley and Bryce and they agreed to be our buffers. I know that I'm awful for not wanting to spend more time with my family but trust me; one day was more then enough. Stephen and his family did meet up with us for one of the days of our trip. Little Audrey was thrilled to play with her cousin, much like Freddy had been. The following day we got to spend some extra time with Billy.  
  
Needless to say this vacation was uneventful compared to our last one. Niles and I took Madeline to the park where we had had our falling out nine months early. She fussed the whole time we were there, giving us a few laughs. I tried to calm her down and picked her up, rocking her back and forth, it didn't help. I then sat down on the bench and she started screaming. At least the tears shed this time was from our fussy daughter and not one of us. And Madeline was quite the fusser; I could already tell she was taking after her father.  
  
Two days prior to the wedding Bryce and Ashley wanted to see us again and they stopped by the hotel to take us out.  
  
"Hello mates," Bryce said while entering, I gave both him and Ashley a kiss hello.  
  
"Two days before the big day, you two must be excited," I said, my response was two large smiles.  
  
"I just wish I wasn't as nervous as I am excited," Ashley sighed, Bryce gave her a kiss.  
  
"That's normal, right Daph?" I laughed at him.  
  
"I think that under the circumstances I'm the wrong person to ask that question to," I turned to look at Niles.  
  
"Yes Ashley, it is normal," he declared. He then headed over to pick up our daughter, who was sleeping peacefully. "Alright Madeline, it's time to head out." He reached over and picked her up gently, but she still stirred. "Oh Maddy, it's ok." I blinked a few times at my husband.  
  
"What did you just call her?" I asked, he stared back at me while rocking Madeline.  
  
"Madeline, that is our daughter's name," he replied confusedly. I turned towards Bryce and Ashley.  
  
"Did you hear what he called her?" I asked, Bryce smirked.  
  
"Sure I did," he then turned towards Niles, who was still confused. "Niles, you called her Maddy." Niles just stared at him.  
  
"I did nothing of the sort," he said, then turned his gaze towards Ashley.  
  
"Sorry, I heard Maddy as well," she replied. Niles sat down and sighed. Maddy had stopped crying. I chuckled.  
  
"How could I have called her Maddy?" he asked, he wasn't too found of her nickname, he claimed that he liked Madeline and that was that. I moved towards him.  
  
"Maybe you like the nickname after all," I replied as I gave him a kiss. I then heard Bryce laughing.  
  
"Looks like Madeline is already learning how to snicker at her parents." Niles and I looked down to see the corner of our daughter's mouth turned upwards. It appeared she was smiling. Niles kissed her forehead.  
  
"You are going to be the end of me," he replied as he picked her up. From over his shoulder I could still see my daughter smiling. She was going to be quite the havoc maker, I was sure of it.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Bryce and Ashley's wedding was beautiful, well, what little I saw of it. About a half hour into the ceremony our daughter began to cry and refused to stop. Niles and I left immediately, not wanting to rain on their parade. He also joked to me that the baby just couldn't handle seeing her mother's ex get married. That's when he got a chance to quiet her down.  
  
Eventually she calmed down and we were able to take our sleeping daughter to the reception. Ashley found us shortly there after.  
  
"My, my, did all that commotion come from this little thing?" she asked, cooing over our daughter.  
  
"As a matter of fact it did," Niles responded.   
  
"That noise could have come from a chorus of babies!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Could have, should have, but you and I both know it didn't," I joked as Ashley played with one of Maddy's hands. Bryce then walked over to us.  
  
"Ahh, here's the little noisemaker," he replied while squatting down to look at Madeline.  
  
"I'm sorry she disturbed your service," I spoke up.  
  
"Nonsense, it was one of those beautiful interruptions," Ashley said. A relative then came by and I saw Ashley reluctantly let go of my daughter's arm and leave us.  
  
"No more problems with you two?" Bryce asked sternly.  
  
"Bryce, where would we find the time to have a problem?" Niles responded, we all chuckled.  
  
"Same for you?" I asked. He smiled.  
  
"Quite dearly so. Thanks again for falling for Niles." I laughed and kissed his cheek.  
  
"Go on, enjoy your wedding." He did as he was told.  
  
An hour later Madeline was gleefully playing with her napkin, biting on as much as she could manage to place into her mouth, when she was able to find her mouth. Bryce's sister, Sara, made her way over to us.  
  
"Hello Daphne!" she exclaimed giving me a hug.  
  
"Hi Sara!" I exclaimed hugging her back, I hadn't seen her since the last time I visited Bryce's parents.  
  
"And who is this little darling?" she asked. Madeline stopped her chewing, mid bite, to stare up at Sara.  
  
"This is my daughter Madeline, and my husband Niles," Sara shook Niles' hand.  
  
"Bryce had told me that you were pregnant but I didn't expect to see this little one at the wedding," Sara said.  
  
"Well, she was born three weeks early so she was ready to come." Sara laughed and sat down with us. "So how is life, Sara?" I asked.  
  
"Oh, just wonderful. I'm so excited that Bryce is married, maybe mom will stop begging me for grandchildren," Sara laughed.  
  
"You really think that will help?" Niles asked.  
  
"No, of course not. Mom has already started hounding Ashley and she hasn't let up on me yet, but, here's hoping."  
  
"Can you tell me honestly that you can look at this baby and not have the slightest urge to have children?" I asked. Sara looked up at me.  
  
"I'm still a few years younger than you, Daph, that's not changing yet." She smiled at me. "However I would be more than happy to watch your daughter attempt to devour a napkin if you two would like a chance to dance?" Sara was always very giving. I turned to Niles, he was smiling.  
  
"I think that would be nice," I stood up and kissed Maddy. "Behave for Sara," I said as Niles and I made our way onto the dance floor. Sara then moved so that Madeline could still see us as we danced and she looked like she was talking to her as well. I looked around and saw Bryce and Ashley were dancing as well, lost in each other's eyes. I pulled Niles close to me and kissed his cheek, I was entirely grateful for everything that I had.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Niles~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Daddy, the door!" my daughter shouted, as if the doorbell wasn't enough.  
  
"I know sweetheart, I'm coming." By the time I arrived she had already unlocked the door and peaked her head around the corner.  
  
"Hi Uncle Bryce, Hi Aunt Ashley," Madeline said as she let the pair in. I stood with my hands on my waist as Madeline turned around and saw me.  
  
"Madeline Rose," I said sternly.  
  
"Yes Daddy?" she asked, her eyes blinking innocently.  
  
"What have your mother and I told you about opening the door?" I was squatting down in front of her. She fidgeted her feet while looking at them.  
  
"I know, but we knew it'd be Uncle Bryce and Aunt Ashley, I wasn't opening it up to strangers." She was now looking at me again with her puppy dog eyes.  
  
"Can you look into the peep hole?"  
  
"No."  
  
"So did you know that for sure?"  
  
"No."  
  
"What do you say, Miss Madeline?" I heard Daphne say from behind me.  
  
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Madeline then wrapped herself around Ashley's leg. Ashley chuckled and then scooped her into her arms and gave her a kiss.  
  
"Feisty for a five year old, isn't she?" Bryce asked. I sighed.  
  
"You have no idea." Daphne then appeared next to me.  
  
"Just last week I found her up on the kitchen counter pulling things out of the cabinets in search of cookies."  
  
"Which I found!" Maddy said cheerfully, Ashley gave her a pat on the shoulder.  
  
"Only after you helped me clean up," Daphne said.   
  
"When do I get to meet this one?" Madeline asked, reaching down to pat Ashley's growing stomach.  
  
"Not for a few months yet, darling," Ashley said, just starting to really show her pregnancy at month five. We then heard crying from upstairs.  
  
"I'll get him," Madeline said cheerfully, squirming down from Ashley's arms and running upstairs. I sighed.  
  
"I better follow her," I turned to leave but Bryce put a hand on my shoulder.  
  
"Relax, mate, I'll go attend to him." I smiled gratefully.  
  
"It's the second door on the left, you'll hear Maddy talking over the cries." Bryce nodded and then headed upstairs. It was amazing that Madeline could be heard over my son's screams, apparently both my children had come equipped with the same set of lungs.  
  
"So how are you doing?" Daphne asked Ashley.  
  
"I'm doing, this little one is slowing me down and you know how energetic I normally am. Instead I'm getting depressed. I tell you, the first time Bryce saw me like that he didn't quite know what to do with me, he was completely stumped." Ashley laughed as she finished speaking, we moved over to the couch to sit down.   
  
"But Uncle Bryce!" I heard Maddy say as she approached the stairs.  
  
"No buts Madeline. I can't hold you and your brother and holding you while you hold your brother just does not see like such a good idea to me." Maddy pouted and curled into Daphne's lap. Daphne wrapped her arms around her and gave her a kiss. Bryce was still holding our son, Damian.  
  
"He looks like his sister," Ashley said while looking over at my son. They did look alike. Madeline had Daphne's dark hair, now down to her shoulders, and my blue eyes. Damian already had a healthy amount of dark hair on his head, making his uncle quite jealous. Oh whom am I kidding, he was making me jealous as well. However at one month his eyes had already turned a nice shade of brown, like his mother.   
  
"So Maddy, do you enjoy having a baby brother?" Bryce asked.   
  
"Yeah, he's a good listener," Maddy replied, now sitting on the floor. Since Damian arrived home Madeline had stopped coming in to see Daphne and I upon first waking up. Now she would go into the baby's room and sit in the rocking chair, talking to him. What amazes me are those mornings that I enter my son's room to find both my children awake and neither one crying or complaining. Those are also the mornings that I cherish. "Except when he screams at me, then he's a bad listener." We all chuckled and Daphne kissed Maddy's head.  
  
"What do you want to do when you grow up?" Ashley asked, a staple question she asks all children, as we had come to learn.  
  
"I wanna be a doctor," this was different, last time she wanted to be a ballerina, "But a real one." I sat silently, staring at me daughter, who was playing with the hem of her dress, smiling proudly. Daphne, Bryce, and Ashley were all laughing uncontrollably. Damian was just watching what was going on, still being held by Bryce. Daphne leaned towards Madeline.  
  
"Maddy, you mean you want to be a medical doctor, right?" Madeline turned towards her mother.  
  
"Right." Madeline then came over to me and sat in my lap. "I wanna be a doctor, just like Daddy, but a different type of doctor. We need variety in the family." I chuckled, finally, and kissed the top of her head. I wrapped my arms tightly around her as conversation continued. I still could not believe all that I had achieved in the last six years, my wife and two children. Madeline was a lot to handle, she kept Daphne and I on our feet persistently. But she also knew how to calm down and just enjoy her family. This was one of those moments; she simply sat in my lap and listened. I treasured moments like this, to just be with my family.   
  
"Has Martin come up with any nicknames for Damian yet?" Bryce asked, I sighed.  
  
"Yes, he has," Daphne replied. "Damie." I shuddered.  
  
"Damie?" Ashley asked.  
  
"Yes, apparently nicknames for grandchildren have to have a y sound at the end," I answered sarcastically. I'll admit that I like Maddy and I use it in reference to my daughter. Damie, however, would never hold the same esteem. Bryce and Ashley were laughing.  
  
"I've heard worse nicknames," Bryce said.  
  
"Damie is quite odd," Ashley said.  
  
"It's because he's the devil," Madeline said, I moved her so that she could look at me.  
  
"Maddy," I said strictly, normally she's quite fond of her brother. She sighed.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm bored. Can I play with Alice?" All the adults chuckled.  
  
"We have to call Aunt Roz first," I said.  
  
"Ok," Madeline said happily. She jumped down and headed towards the phone and I excused myself to follow her.  
  
  
**Daphne**  
  
As Niles left to call Roz and Alice Damian started to whimper. I rose to take care of him but before I even got the chance Bryce was already standing and rocking him.   
  
"Sometimes he just needs to be walked," I said, Bryce nodded.  
  
"Come on, Damian, let's go for a walk around your house, shall we?" Bryce then left the room.  
  
"Look at how he is with your children, Daph!" Ashley exclaimed.  
  
"I know, as soon as he started to really interact with Madeline I knew you two would be pregnant soon." Ashley rubbed her stomach.  
  
"How long ago was that?" She asked.  
  
"Only a year," I chuckled.  
  
"Every time I get nervous about being a mother I just look to you and Niles. You went into this unplanned and early on and look at you? You two are raising two wonderful children," I had to smile.  
  
"All in a days work." In fact, compared to the problems I went through between starting a relationship with Bryce and finding out I was pregnant with Maddy the last five years have been a breeze. It's been relaxing and comforting. And stable. That's the biggest help of all, the stability. And the fact that I love my family dearly does help.   
  
"You ever get worried that you aren't going to be able to do it right?" Ashley asked. I sat back and thought.  
  
"From time to time. But then all I have to do is look at Niles, Maddy, or Damian sleeping. Each has this glow about them, this peace. It soothes me and puts me to rest knowing that no matter what this is my family. These are my loves. And I wouldn't have it any other way." Just then Madeline and Niles reentered the room.  
  
"Alice's busy," Maddy pouted. I picked her up and looked at her, brushing a strand of hair away from her face so that I could see her deep blue eyes.  
  
"Why don't you go join Uncle Bryce, he's walking with your brother." My daughter's eyes lit up with sparkles. I chuckled and kissed her head and then I watched her run up the stairs. I then felt a kiss on my own head, coming from Niles. How I got to be so fortunate I don't think I will ever be able to answer.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The~End~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


End file.
